Blast from the past
by Foxy Nighthawk
Summary: Sara meets an old friend from the past and that brings back a lot of memories both good and bad. Will she run away again or will she finally stop running long enough to let somebody get to know her? CathSara pairing. Don't like? Don't read. Final warning:
1. Chapter 1

This is slash. If you do not like two females getting together, then please do not read. This is Cath/Sara - or at least it will be. As this is my first Cath/Sara and CSI fic (and only my second attempt at writing fanfiction) please review, so I know whether or not to continue. English is not my first language and I dont have a beta, so any mistakes are my fault. If you would like to beta my story, please contact me. Other than that I hope you do enjoy the story.

Oh! I don't own the caracters or the show - I just like it a lot. I do kinda own the caracters that are not on the show since they came from my imagination.

Blast from the past

She couldn't remember the last time they had had a conversation without the snide remarks. A conversation without fighting over who was the alpha-female. Everything turned into a competition between them, the only exception being working on a case; both knowing that solving the case was bigger than both of them. And most cases they worked together was solved, because they were good – an unbeatable team. Maybe it was working on such a case she realized it. She couldn't remember, but it had changed everything. The proverbial IT, that was love. She was in love with Catherine Willows. The one thing she did remember though, was her first thought after realizing IT: Hell has just frozen over!

"Hey Sara?"

"Huh?" Sara was startled, but hid it well. She had been lost in thoughts about her very secret crush again. Crush was such a small word for her feelings; inadequate really, but it was her word of choice, because she knew that her feelings would never come out in the open. It was just a crush.

"Sara? You with the living?"

A hand was waved in front of her face.

"Huh?" Why couldn't she form a simple sentence? She rubbed her eyes. "Yeah, sorry Greg. What's up?" She looked at the new CSI.

"Nothing much. It's been a slow night." He looked at the evidence bags on the table. Pointing at them he asked: "What's you working on?"

"Just going over an old case. I'm going to court with it soon, so I just wanna go in fully prepared." 'If only I could get a certain blonde somebody out of my head.' She added in thought. She looked up at Greg wondering why he was really in her lab. She knew he wanted to learn as much as possible, and she was more than happy to teach him. But right now he seemed more nervous than his usual eager self.

"Oh." He looked at the bags again playing with the corner of one of them. "Look Sara, I was thinking…"

'Please don't ask me out on a date!' The thought screamed across her mind. She concentrated on Greg again keeping her fingers crossed.

"You wanna go out for breakfast and celebrate?" He looked at her expectantly.

"Celebrate? Celebrate what?" She asked fearing that she might have missed something.

"I don't know. Life? Love? Friendship? Just something. You know just go out and celebrate something and have fun? What do you say?"

Sara was touched in way by what her younger colleague had just said. But she wasn't sure what her answer was going to be. What did she have to celebrate anyway?

"Look Greg." She started.

"No! I wont take no for an answer." He interrupted her. When she was about to speak again, he held up a hand stopping her. "The guys already accepted and I promised that I would make you come along for the fun."

"But…"

"No, they told me to bring you. Even if I had to drag you there kicking and screaming." He paused sizing her up. "Do I have to do that?"

"No." she said vehemently. "But…"

"I _will_ drag you kicking and screaming!" Greg interrupted her again. "I don't wanna hear no or but or anything!"

"Greg…" She held up her hand when she saw that he was about to interrupt her again. "Let me speak?" She paused to find out if he would let her. When he just nodded she continued. "I'm not the most social person."

"I know. But going out once with us hardly qualifies as social." He grinned at her. "Come on! What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger."

She felt tempted; she could use a beer to relax her. She wasn't an alcoholic, but sometimes you just need something to get you back down to earth in a job like hers. She looked back up at Greg who was looking at her expectantly.

"Please Sara!" He pleaded as a last resort. "I'll never hear the end of it, if I cant get you to come with me."

"Ok."

"Ok?"

"Ok."

"Yes!" Greg exclaimed and started dancing a little victory dance.

"Where are we going?" She asked trying to suppress a laugh.

"This new place off the strip." He stopped his little dance and turned towards her again. "It just opened a couple of weeks ago. I hear they have live music there."

"Live music at a breakfast restaurant?"

"Well, yeah, it turns into some kind of bar/café/something at night. I don't really get the concept, but it should be fun." Greg shrugged.

"Ok. Give me the address and I'll meet you there when I finish here."

"Oh no!" Greg started gathering the evidence bags from the table.

"What are you doing?" Sara's mood changed from happy to pissed in seconds. "Stop that!"

"Shift was over 10 minutes ago. You need to get this back in lock-up. And we need to get going the others already left." He looked up from the table and saw how furious she was. He knew not to mess with Sara Sidle's evidence, but he also knew that if he let her stay alone with it and left without her, she would stay in the labs until their next shift started. So for once he tried bravery. "Come on, Foxy's waiting."

"Foxy?" Sara's mood changed back to happy.

"Yeah, that's the name of the place we're going to."

"Foxy." Sara stated and to Greg's big surprise she quickly but carefully put away the rest of the evidence, and motioned for him to go out the door.

At Foxy Nick, Warrick, Brass, Sofia, Brass and Catherine was waiting for Greg and Sara. It was a nice place with a comfortable atmosphere. It had a stage in one end for the musicians, and a couple of people was preparing for a band.

"You think he'll get her to come?" Nick asked no one in particular.

"Hope not." Catherine answered. "He's buying me breakfast if she doesn't." She looked at the others and realized how she could be misunderstood. "Not that I don't want Sara here." She tried to smooth over her previous statement. Not very successfully.

"Sure." Warrick laughed out and Brass nodded his head in agreement with the sarcasm. Nick just looked at his glass, because in all honesty Catherine scared him a little.

"What?" Catherine shot back. "I do want Sara here."

"Prove it." Warrick said.

"What?"

"Come on, Catherine." Sofia interjected. "Even the PD knows you two are like cat and dog. No pun intended."

Catherine stared at her in disbelief.

"Don't start a fight with her when she gets here." Warrick said and when she was about to interrupt, he held up a hand stopping her. "Just give the girl a chance and try to get to know her; that's all I'm saying."

Catherine thought about it a little before looking back at Warrick.

"Fine." Was all she had a chance to say before a piano started playing. They all looked towards the stage and saw a young woman sitting by the piano. She started talking over the music.

"Hi everybody. Or good morning I guess. Welcome to Foxy." She smiled at the people in the restaurant. "The band that is supposed to be up here playing are running a bit late, but don't worry they'll get here. Until then my brother has talked me into playing a couple of numbers for you. My name is Veronica and I hope you enjoy your breakfast and the music. This is you've got a friend."

Catherine stayed quiet listening to the music with a contemplating look on her face. She knew that everybody thought that she didn't like Sara. Most thought that it was because she had closed Eddie's case, but that wasn't it really. Sure she had been pissed at the time, but not because it was Sara; she would have done the same had it been any of the guys. She hadn't apologized to Sara though, but that had an entirely different reason. Catherine was getting older, she knew that. Granted, she did have a better body than most women her age, but the lines on her face was getting deeper and her body wasn't as firm as it used to be. Having Sara close by only reminded her of that. Catherine sometimes needed the attention men gave her when she walked up to them or past them. The appreciative glances boosted her confidence. It was a need she had had for as long as she could remember; a leftover from her dancing days.

Sara was young, gorgeous, intense and intelligent. Catherine knew that Sara was smarter than her, so Catherine had to be the most beautiful. She knew that her reasoning was far from well reasonable, but she was vain, that was her only excuse. She would do as Warrick had suggested, though. She would be nice to Sara today, and at least try to get to know more about her. She would try to bury the hatchet and not in Sara's back this time.

She turned back to the table and saw Sara and Greg standing by the entrance. She was just about to wave them over, when she saw the look on Sara's face. She was frozen in place staring at the lone figure on the stage and seemed lost in time. Slowly a smile spread across her face and Catherine watched in awe; that smile could light up a room. Sara mouthed a single word that Catherine couldn't quite get and just kept looking at the woman onstage and smiling.

Sara had heard her before she saw her. She would never forget that voice as long as she lived. Her and Greg was standing just inside the restaurant. Greg was looking around trying to locate their co-workers, but all she could do was stare at the stage. Slowly a smile formed on her face, she knew that she must be looking silly, but she didn't care much. She hadn't seen the other woman in ten years. The single word was out of her mouth before she even knew she had spoken it. "Foxy." And she smiled again, she had missed her.

Greg had finally seen the others and grabbed Sara by the arm shaking her out of her reverie. Catherine frowned at that, Sara had looked happy for once – and about something other than work for once. Couldn't he have let her have that a little longer?


	2. Chapter 2

A/N1: I am not very happy with how this chapter has turned out, but it's what you get.

A/N2: I don't know if there is a band out there called Ballabaloo, I made that up.

A/N3: I know nothing about Harvard or if someone as young as I have described can get in. Nor do I know anything about being a genius. This is fiction after all.

Spoilers: I forgot those in the first part. Up until season six I guess. Nothing to direct I think, just job descriptions and such.

I do not own the characters or the show.

Thanks for all the reviews I really appreciate it! Please let me know what you think of this chapter, I'll take good and bad.

Chapter two

"I told you I could get her here!" Greg exclaimed as he sat down next to Catherine leaving Sara a seat facing the stage.

"Well, that's a good boy, Greg." Catherine replied playfully and smiled.

"So I am not buying breakfast today." He paused for dramatic effect. "_You_ are." He finished and pointed at her.

"I know, I know." She raised her hands in mock surrender.

"What are you talking about?" Sara looked at them questioningly.

"Eh.." Greg was at a loss for words.

"Well…" Catherine wasn't succeeding either. If she hadn't promised to not fight with Sara, she would have come up with an answer quickly, but now she didn't know how to explain the silly bet.

"You made a bet whether or not I would come with Greg?" Sara asked. Greg merely nodded.

"Well, yes. Yes we did." Catherine answered. "But…"

"I see." Sara interrupted her. She paused contemplating something. "Who's buying me breakfast then?" She asked with a smirk.

"Greg." Catherine answered immediately smiling.

"Hey!" Greg piped up. "You lost the bet." He said pointing at Catherine.

"Well, I'm already buying you breakfast, so it's only fair that you buy Sara breakfast." It seemed logically enough to her.

"Cath… erine is right." Sara said to Greg, only barely managing to change Cath to Catherine. "And you did get me here on false pretences." She added for good measure.

"You are so not getting out of this one, Greg." Nick snickered.

"Nah man, just give it up already." Warrick joined in.

"Well with that settled." Brass said. "We better order something to eat."

They ordered breakfast and just sat there chatting lightly enjoying the music. Sara was lost in the music and her thoughts, and most of the conversation around the table was lost to her. She remembered a time long lost, a time when she had been almost happy. A time when she had someone who knew every little detail about her life. A time when someone stayed beside her instead of running far away. She remembered the last time she had seen Veronica – or Foxy as she liked to call her. It was in the summer. The summer she had finished at Harvard.

That's where they met, Sara was four years older than Veronica, but that didn't seem to matter to either of them. Sara had been asked to help her find her way around campus, and the professor had made her understand how important it was for her to make the girl feel at home. She was valuable to the institute, was the words he had used. She was a kid genius; one of the sharpest minds in the country. Sara knew how the new girl must be feeling; the insecurities, the overwhelming feeling of dread, fearing that she would have no friends, fearing that no one would like her, being away from everything she knew. That was how she had been feeling anyway. But when she met the girl all these thoughts went flying out the window. Foxy was one of the most outgoing persons she had ever met and Sara had been trapped in her personality from the first time they had a longer conversation.

Foxy might have been only fifteen years old, but they could talk about anything – even the most dorky things that Sara had never had anybody else to talk with about. Most people called her dorky when she started talking about her interests, but Foxy was interested. She wanted to learn about it, she wanted Sara to teach her about forensics and physics. She was the light in Sara's life, she made her go out among other people, she made her do things that made her blush to this day. Whenever she dared Sara to do something, Sara had done it – even the one time she had dared her to make a move on that blonde. It had been worth it, really worth it. Foxy had to sleep at the library that night. A smile formed on her lips again. Foxy was so vibrant and full of life, so unlike Sara, and she had chosen Sara as her friend. They were friends not lovers, they had talked about it, but it had never been more than friendship. Foxy was so full of life, right up until that night.

"Sara?" Catherine couldn't keep the slight annoyance out of her voice.

"Huh?" Sara blinked to focus back to the present. "What?" She asked before realizing that it might have come out sounding harder than she had meant it. "Sorry, I was just lost in my head there for a moment." She smiled apologetically to the blonde.

"A moment?" Catherine chuckled. "I've only called your name for the last couple of minutes."

"Oh." Sara blushed a bit. "You didn't sit there before."

"Eh... No." Catherine looked at her looking slightly amused. "I switched with Nick five minutes ago. I got tired of Greg gloating." She laughed a little. "You didn't notice?"

"No." Sara blushed a little more.

"You were really long gone there?" Catherine more stated than asked. "But what I wanted to say was that I was sorry about the bet. We shouldn't have…"

"No Catherine, it's ok. It's fine really. It was a fifty-fifty chance really." She smiled at the older woman.

"Oh." Catherine was stunned that she didn't have to deflect a fight. "Well, thanks." When a smile started to grace the features of the younger woman, she couldn't help but ask: "What?"

"Nothing really."

"No, what is so funny?" Catherine asked - a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

"Just this." Sara said pointing a hand between the two of them. "Us." Her smile grew bigger. "Us having a civil conversation."

"Well." Catherine paused. "I kinda made a bet with Warrick as well." She admitted sheepishly.

"Oh." Sara smirked. "What do you get this time?"

Catherine just giggled. _Since when do I giggle?_ "Next solo case." She shot out.

"Lucky girl." Sara laughed a little, not really knowing what was so funny. It felt good though. They lapsed back to silence letting the music wash over them. Veronica had just started on Independent love song.

"She's good." Catherine stated.

"Yeah." Sara answered letting the music sweep over her once again before continuing. "I know her." She said before she knew what she had said. She didn't know why she had volunteered the information, and to Catherine of all people.

"Yeah?" Catherine said telling her to go on.

"She…" She paused trying to find words to describe the girl to Catherine. "She was…" She paused again not happy with the way her mind was forming sentences. "She was the first person who ever liked me for me. The first person I ever trusted 100 percent."

"She must be special then." Catherine commented surprised that Sara had opened up to her.

"She is the second most special person I know." Again the words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.

"Only second huh? Who is number one then?" Catherine couldn't resist asking, she was lead CSI for a reason after all.

"Huh?" Sara was blushing again. "Eh, my mom, my foster mom." She just put out the first person coming to mind. There was no way that she would ever admit that she was speaking to the most special person in her world right at that moment. Sara might have admitted to herself that she had _a crush_ on her co-worker, but that was a secret she would take to the grave. Luckily she was saved from continuing the conversation when their breakfast was served.

"The original band is finally here. I hope you enjoyed listening as much as I enjoyed playing. Have a nice day and weekend everybody." Veronica got up from behind the piano. "Please welcome Ballabaloo."

Veronica left the stage and started walking towards the bar where the entrance to the kitchen was, Sara followed her path with her eyes. She didn't get close to where the group was sitting, but for a moment she turned her head in their direction. She slowed down to almost a stop when their eyes met, and Sara saw recognition in her eyes. She picked up her pace again though and looked back towards the bar, and didn't show any other signs that she had recognised Sara.

"Why isn't she coming over?" Catherine asked her.

"We didn't part on the best of terms." Sara said absentmindedly. She saw Foxy walking up to a man at the bar, giving him a hug. She said something to him and he left her alone for a minute, only to appear next to her again with a steaming cup of coffee.

"What the…" Catherine started.

"What?" Sara asked shocked back to the table at Catherine's outburst.

"That's the guy my sister is dating." Catherine explained pointing to the guy Foxy was talking to. "He better not have that little thing on the side, or he will have to deal with me!" Just as she finished the sentence, the two disappeared into the kitchen area. "Well, that's it! I'm gonna kill him."

"Whoa, easy there Cath." Sara grabbed her by the arm just as she was about to get up. "Remember; follow the evidence."

"I am!" Catherine hissed.

"No, you're not. Would you just listen to me for a minute?" She said tugging at her arm to get her to sit back down. When she succeeded in doing so she continued. "I would be very surprised if they are having an affair."

"And why is that?" Catherine knew that her voice was far from friendly, but she couldn't seem to be bothered with that right now.

"Because." Sara dragged it out. "As far as I know he is not her type."

"Not her type, that's what you call evidence?"

"Well, yeah." Sara said looking her in the eyes.

"Well. How?" Catherine asked. "What is her type like then?"

"Oh, I don't know. Blond for starters." Sara said keeping eye contact.

"He IS blonde, Sara." Catherine said exasperated.

"Yeah, I mean more like you blonde." Sara smirked; somehow she couldn't resist teasing the older woman a little. And somehow she couldn't seem to be able to break eye contact either. She saw how realization dawned in her features and chuckled. "Get it now?"

"She's gay?"

"Bingo."

"Bingo? How do you know that's she's gay?"

"I only lived with her for a year." Sara said, then realizing how it could be interpreted. "Shared a room with her – shared a room. Not living together as in _living_ together. We were just friends. Good friends, but just friends."

Catherine started laughing, and soon it was too contagious and Sara had to join in.

"What's so funny?" Nick asked.

"Sara!" Catherine snorted.

"What?" Sofia was curios as well.

"Hard to explain." Sara said between laughs. "Ahh!" She screamed as a pair of arms encircled her and a head appeared on her right.

"Calm down, Sass!" A light voice whispered in her ear. "I won't bite."

"Foxy!" Sara squealed and got on her feet embracing the shorter woman in a bear hug.

"Well, that's more like it! That's the kinda greeting I like!" Veronica held her out at arms length and gave her a once over, before hugging her tightly again. "It's been too damn long, Sass."

"I know." Sara let go of her and looked her in the eyes. "I missed you." She said looking down.

"God girl, you still do that?" Foxy reached out and placed her hand under Sara's chin and lifted it up so she was looking her in the eyes again. "That's better. I missed you too."

They stood there a while before someone cleared their throat bringing them back to reality. Sara looked up at the man standing next to her friend.

"Sorry, Sass this is Benjamin." She pointed at the man. "Ben this is Sara Sidle; a friend from Harvard. Ben is my younger brother."

"Nice to meet you Sara." Benjamin shook her hand.

"You too." Sara smiled.

"And I'm not that much younger. Just about ten minutes; we're twins." He looked at the people at the table. "Catherine hi. I didn't see you there." He bent down and kissed her on the cheek. "How's Lindsay?"

"Hello Ben." Catherine blushed a little because of the things she had nearly accused him of. "She's good. She's at Nancy's right now as a matter of fact."

"Introductions please!" Greg directed at Sara.

"Oh right. Sorry. Guys this is Veronica Lavisham…"

"Christiansen." Veronica corrected her. "My last name is Christiansen now, changed it when I turned 18."

"Ok, Veronica Christiansen. Foxy this is…." Sara introduced her to her friends around the table and they offered that they could join them. Continuing with their breakfast Sara and Veronica got up to date on each others lives. Sara told her all about her job, and she found out what her friend had done with her life. It turned out that she was now a doctor at a Vegas hospital, married and had a daughter.

"Really?" Sara asked a bit surprised. "You have a daughter? How?"

"How? Sara, come on! You know how that works!" Veronica laughed.

"Well, I just thought – you know." Sara laughed as well.

"Ok. You're right. It was kinda expensive, but she is worth every little bit of it!"

"I bet it was, especially if she is anything like her mother." Sara let the compliment out easily.

"Thanks Gorgeous." Veronica smiled shyly. "She's the reason I'm here by the way."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Kim kinda left me, and she had her yesterday. We agreed to meet here – neutral grounds and all. So I'm here to pick her up." She looked at her watch and then at the door. "And they are now officially late." She smiled.

Just as she had said that Sara looked at the door and saw a blonde come in carrying a little girl about three years old. 'This can't be right.' She thought. She knew the woman carrying the little girl; it was Sofia's detective partner Kimberly Shaw.

"There they are." Veronica got up and went to them taking the girl from Kimberly. They talked a little and Veronica gestured to the others at the table. Sara waved to Kim, who looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"What's Kim doing here?" Sofia asked.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: This is mostly background, so not so much S/C interaction going on. But there will be later.

A/N2: Thoughts are in 'thoughts' – just so you know.

Spoilers: See chapter 2.

Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own CSI, I wish I did though, 'cause then I could spend my days just looking at those two fine ladies… Just look… Nothing else… And I'm being totally serious here…

Again thanks for the reviews, they are the reason I keep writing. Please review again; tell me what is good and what is bad, and I'll try to fix the bad and put in more of the good.

Chapter three

"What's Kim doing here?" Sofia asked. "She said she didn't have time to go out with us. Said she had to pick up her kid at her mother's house."

"Look like she picked her up." Catherine commented dryly.

"Yeah." Sara said absentmindedly while watching the two women walking towards their table. When they reached their destination Kimberly gave a small wave to them.

"Hi guys."

"What are you doing here?" Sofia asked. "I thought you were going to spend time with your kid?" She looked at Kim questioningly.

Sara was about to say something when she felt a hand on her shoulder, looking up she locked eyes with Veronica, who silently shook her head for her to stay quiet.

"No." Kimberly paused. "Actually I was just picking her up from my mother's house, so I could get her back to her Mommy." She pointed at Veronica with a thumb.

"Her Mommy?" Brass asked.

"Yeah." Kim sat down on a vacant chair. "You know, the woman who gave birth to her."

"But I thought it was your kid?" Sofia needed a little more clarification.

"Well, we had her together, but…" Kimberly didn't finish the sentence.

"But nothing." Veronica took over when she saw no indication that the other would finish the sentence. "We are her parents. Apparently not together anymore, but we are her parents." She looked at her daughter sitting securely on her left arm. "You wanna just sit with Mama for a little while, Jules? I just gotta go get another cup of coffee." She asked the little girl who nodded shyly. Lowering her she put her on Kim's lap and turned towards the kitchen.

The little girl buried her face in her Mama's shirt after looking around the table.

"She's a little shy around people she doesn't know." Kim apologized looking down at her daughter lovingly.

"She didn't get that from her mother." Catherine commented.

"Which one?" Sofia snickered, earning a glare from Brass. She slapped him lightly on the arm. "Come on, can't you take a joke?" She looked at Kimberly. "Why didn't you just tell us? What's the whole secret thing about?"

"Yeah. What's that all about?" Catherine said smiling.

Kimberly looked up, first looking at Sofia then Catherine. She addressed the latter first.

"Don't even act like you didn't know!" She said to the older blonde. "You should be backing me up here."

"It's much more fun to see you squirm." Catherine offered as an explanation accompanied by a big smile.

Kimberly turned her attention back to Sofia and was about to explain when the other woman beat her to it.

"She knew and I didn't?" Sofia asked incredulously. "What's wrong with this picture? I thought I was the partner here."

"Look, it just didn't come up, ok?"

"Didn't come up?" Sofia looked as if her eyes were about to pop out of the sockets. "You know you're gonna do better than that!"

The boys kept quiet during this conversation, knowing better than to get between two women about to have a fight. Besides they all wanted to know the ending of this new revelation.

"Ok." Kimberly sighed slightly moving the little girl into a more comfortable position. "I just didn't want to be the stereotypical cop. You know the one where people smile politely then point at you behind your bag and whisper about the butch dyke cop, big bad-a…"

"Baby with ears on your lap." A gentle voice interrupted her as a cup of coffee was placed in front of her. Veronica lifted the girl from her lap and up into her own arms. "You don't have to be shy, Jules. These guys work with Mama, and I'm sure that they are all really nice." She caressed the little girls chin.

"Well, if you don't want to have a label put on you, how come Catherine knows and I don't?" Sofia asked wanting to get to the bottom of this problem.

"Hey!" Catherine said.

"No offence Catherine, but I do work closer with her than you do."

"Catherine knows because my mother's house is near her house. My mother sits for Lindsay when Catherine's in a jam. That's why." She wanted to explain further, but she was interrupted by a low chuckle. She looked around to find the source. "What?" She asked her wife, who had sat back down next to Sara.

"Nothing." Was all she managed to get out concentrating hard trying not to laugh out loud. Feeling Sara's shoulder bobbing up and down next to her didn't make it any easier. She turned towards the tall brunette who was also trying hard to contain her laughter. "Stop it, Sass!" She whispered. And as on cue they both starting laughing hard.

They people around the table looked at them as if they had both grown a second head simultaneously. Firstly they weren't used to seeing Sara so carefree and secondly this whole conversation was not a laughing matter. Both Kimberly and Sofia were starting to get a little pissed.

"What?" Kimberly demanded again.

The tone of voice got Veronica to sober up again and she stopped laughing drying the tears from her eyes. She looked up at her wife and was about to say something. But the look on her face was just too priceless and she broke down laughing again, bringing Sara right along with her. The little girl didn't like the bobbing of her mother's legs, so she crawled over to Catherine and buried her face in her shirt.

Nick was the first to break, he just couldn't seem to stop his lips from forming a smile and from thereon he was lost. His low chuckles soon broke into laughter and Warrick followed shortly after. After that there was no going back and soon the whole table was laughing except for Sofia and Kimberly, who, instead, was shooting death glares around the table.

After laughing for a full fifteen minutes Veronica and Sara finally tried to sober up. Laying her head on the table, Sara addressed her old friend.

"God, Foxy. You're killing me." She let out a final little chuckle.

"Don't blame me!" Foxy defended herself. "She started this." She pointed at Kim.

"What?" Kim spat out, but she only achieved another burst of giggles from her wife. "Would you please tell what I'm doing that's so funny? I really don't see it. I'm coming out to my co-workers here, what's so funny about that?" She said in the sternest voice she could muster up.

"Sorry, hon." Veronica offered wiping her eyes once again. "It's just…" She took a deep breath to steady herself. "It's just such a small world."

"What?" Kimberly looked at her dumbfounded. "You've been laughing for fifteen minutes because it's a small world?"

"Well yeah. First I meet Sass for the first time in over ten years. Then I find out that my brother is dating one of her co-workers' sister. Then it turns out that you kinda work with her as well. Then I find out that you haven't told anyone about me, except for said co-worker, whose daughter my mother-in-law baby sits from time to time." She looked up at Kimberly as her smile grew wider and wider. "Please don't tell me there's more. I don't think I can take any more."

"I've met your daughter before." Sara offered.

"What? Where?" She asked surprised laughter evident in her voice.

"At Catherine's." Sara explained. "I dropped off something she forgot at work and she was baby-sitting."

"Ok. Excuse me!" Veronica got up from her chair and bolted towards the bathroom; her shoulders hopping up and down with laughter.

"It'll take her a while to get back." Benjamin said. "Once she gets started like this, she just can't stop. And she hasn't done it in a while, so it'll probably take her at least half an hour." He smiled at the others and then looked at Kim. "Remember that time when she had to lock herself in the bedroom for the entire day?"

"Yes." Kimberly answered smiling a bit at the memory.

"Now she has hardly laughed for the last four months." Benjamin said. "I have to work hard to even get her to smile. Any idea why that is?"

"I'm not in the mood for this now Benjamin." Kimberly sighed.

"Ok. Fine." He said getting up. "But when you are ready, you might just be a little too late."

"Baby with ears on my lap." Catherine said to both of them.

"Sorry." Ben offered. "It was nice meeting all of you, but I better get back to work."

He left the table and the rest sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Just when it was about to get uncomfortable a voice interrupted it.

"I left her four months ago." Kim sighed. "We're on a break." She looked around at all of them. "I know that's what you all wanted to know!"

There were a few murmured okays and a couple of nods before they lapsed into silence again. After a few minutes conversations started up gradually again. Nick, Warrick and Greg started discussing the latest ps2 games, Sofia, Brass and Sara talked about a case they had just solved and Catherine talked quietly with the little girl sitting on her lap.

"Sorry guys." Veronica came up to them again. "I think I scared a couple of ladies in there." She pointed at the bathroom. She grabbed her purse, took out a card and wrote something on the back. She gave the card to Sara. "You better give me a call, missy." She said. "Or The Tickle Monster will come and find you!" She winked at her.

"I'll make sure to call then." Sara said smiling.

"Good." She leaned in over Catherine and lifted up the little girl. "Thanks Catherine. Hope she didn't bother you too much.

"No problem." Catherine said. "Reminds me of when Lindsay was that age."

"Well, we better get going." Veronica shifted her daughter so she faced the table. "Can you wave goodbye?" She asked her and the little girl waved and all of them waved back. "That's good. Kiss Mama goodbye." The little girl leaned down and gave Kimberly a kiss.

"Bye Mama."

"Bye Julie. See you Monday." Kimberly waved up at her daughter.

"Ok, now Uncle Ben." She looked around the table. "Where's Ben?" She asked.

"Uh. He went back there somewhere." Sara offered pointing towards the kitchen.

"Ok, thanks." Veronica backed up a bit. "Nice meeting you guys. Bye."

The rest of the table offered their goodbyes and Veronica went to search for her brother. They talked a little longer enjoying the last of their coffees. But after a little while Sara got up.

"Well, I better get going too; I have some sleep to catch up on."

"I think I'll join you." Catherine said getting up as well.

"Uh." Was all Sara managed to say but her mind was going into overdrive. 'You won't get much sleep if you join me.' "Greg gave me a lift here. You think you could give me a ride?" 'A ride? Eloquent Sara!'

"Sure." Catherine had already started walking away from the table. "You coming?" She asked as Sara was still standing at the table.

"Huh?" 'Coming? I wish!' Sometimes Sara just wanted to shut down her brain and work on autopilot. "Yeah. See you tonight guys." She waved and followed Catherine. 'Swish swush, swish swush. Left right, left right. Nice ass, great ass, fabulous ass. Legs to die for. Going all the way… Door!' Yes autopilot sounded just fine.


	4. In the car

Thank you for all the reviews. You can't imagine how much it means to actually know that people not only read my story, but actually like it as well.

Miss Olympe Maxime: Thanks for the tip about the anonymous reviews, I'm new at this site, so I didn't know I had to enable it. And great that you like my other characters, I try to make them likeable.

All the rest of you: Again thank you, thank you, thank you. Please feel free to review again, 'cause I really like it. If there's something you don't like please let me know, it's the only way I can get better.

And the biggest thanks to my beta, Jess. You are the best! Thanks for improving the story.

A/N: I made them a little younger than they would be on the show. Cath: 39, Sara: 32, Veronica: 28, Kim: 27, Lindsay: going to be 13 and Julie: 3.

**In the car**

Getting to the car wasn't as hard as she'd thought it would be. The only slightly embarrassing moment was when she almost walked into the restaurant door.

Getting into the car wasn't hard either, but actually sitting in this close to Catherine in such a confined space was beyond hard. They never got along very well in the first place, but now having realized that she had feelings for the older woman just made it so much harder.

What were they going to talk about? How on earth could they just have an ordinary conversation after all this time?

Catherine apparently didn't have this problem, because she started talking as soon as they got in the car.

"Well, that was really something in there." She said questioningly.

"Yeah." Sara replied, thinking that sticking with as few words as possible would make this easier.

Catherine looked over at her raising an eyebrow, silently asking the question: _'Is that all you have to say?_' When Sara didn't respond further, she continued on her own.

"I mean, I knew about Shaw, but it must have been a big surprise for the rest of you."

"Yeah."

"Ok." Catherine drew out the word. And the ride continued in silence. The silence was no better than actually having to talk to Catherine, so Sara bit the bullet and started talking again.

"It wasn't that big a surprise to me, really." She offered.

"No?" Catherine asked waiting for her to elaborate.

"No, I am a CSI after all." She turned towards Catherine and flashed her a half-smile.

"Yeah right!" Catherine laughed out. "Now tell me the real reason."

"I don't know. I just thought she might be, you know."

"Be what? The mother of a beautiful little girl?"

"No. Gay." Sara said directly. "And I like Shaw, so I just thought it was her own business. But I might have to reassess that opinion now."

"What?" Catherine looked over at her briefly before looking back at the road. "You're gonna start spreading the news that she is gay, married and the co-mom to the wife's daughter?"

"No! That I like her, she is messing with my girl you know."

"What are you now? Gangsta?" Catherine chuckled.

"No. It's just that…" She paused. "Veronica has been hurt enough in the past, I know that. I just don't want to see her hurt anymore."

"Ok. And she needs you to protect her?" Catherine asked. "What makes you think that she didn't make Kim leave? That it might not be all Kim's fault?"

"Ronnie was wearing her wedding ring – Kim wasn't."

"That doesn't really prove that Kimberly is entirely to blame."

"I know Ronnie." Was all Sara had to say.

"No, you don't really. You said it had been a long time since you've seen her, and people do change."

"Veronica doesn't." Sara saw Catherine was about to argue and opened her mouth before she had a chance to do so. "Not that much. She knows my innermost secrets, the secrets I don't want anyone to know about. And I know her secret. And I know that she would not have even considered having a kid with Shaw if she didn't love her unconditionally."

"I loved Eddie once." Catherine responded.

"Yeah, but you didn't go through what she went through."

"How do you know?"

"You wouldn't have been with him if you did."

Catherine didn't have a response to that. She could hear that Sara was being serious, but a part of her was still offended that Sara would say such a thing about her marriage. She kept silent not wanting to get into a fight in the car.

"Look, Cath." Sara started. "I didn't mean it the way you might have taken it." She looked over at the blonde getting lost in how beautiful she really was. She quickly snapped out of it as Catherine glanced her way. "It's just that she is very…" She paused searching for the right word. "Fragile." She settled on.

"She could have fooled me." Catherine commented. "The way she acted around us, I mean. She acted like she had known us for years."

"That's all an act she puts on." Sara explained. "Julie really got the shyness from Veronica. Veronica just doesn't let a lot of people see that shyness." Sara stopped realizing that she had revealed a lot more than she had wanted to. She really had to get her emotions in check again around Catherine. Who knows what else she would accidentally tell the gorgeous blonde. "Look, Cath, please don't tell anyone that I told you this?"

"Your secret's safe with me." Catherine said. After sitting in silence for a couple of minutes she decided to lighten up the conversation. "So why is she calling you Sass?" She asked.

"Huh?" Sara feigned ignorance.

"Don't pull that act with me, Sidle. You know exactly what I'm talking about." Catherine smirked.

They sat in silence a little before Sara decided to answer, and in that time Catherine realized that she really enjoyed spending time like this with her younger co-worker, spending time without the fighting. She decided that she really wanted more of that.

"It's an easy explanation really." Sara started. "She started out calling me Sassy, I think mainly because she thought that I was anything other than sassy." She looked at Catherine and gave a smirk. "And she was right. She'll probably still insist that it's a combination of my names, but I think I'm right. She says she took the Sa from Sara and Si from Sidle and put the two together coming up with what sounds as Sassy. That's it."

"What? That's just it? You didn't have to earn your nickname?"

"Let's just say that I got the name before I earned it and leave it at that."

"No, you can't just say a thing like that and then leave me hanging." Catherine protested.

"Sure I can." Sara shot back. "Because you just turned down my street and we don't have the time to get into that now."

"Ok. Well, you know what that means then." Catherine said.

"What?" Sara asked, clueless as to what the other woman was getting at.

"You owe me another breakfast." Catherine smirked as she stopped outside Sara's apartment building.

"Wait a minute. I owe you breakfast? You're the one who was betting against me."

"Your point being?" Catherine asked playfully.

"You should be buying me breakfast." Sara said slapping her arm lightly. _'Ok Sara, when did the conversation get all flirty? What are you doing even thinking about flirting with her? And breakfast? That's like a date, right?'_

"Well, I am the single mother trying to get her only daughter through school. You can't spare a breakfast on me?" Catherine asked batting her eyes for good measure, after all she wanted that breakfast. _'Catherine Willows! What on earth are you doing? That is Sara Sidle you're flirting with here! You two don't even like each other.'_ She looked at Sara and noticed a short flash of confusion in her eyes, but it was gone before she had a chance to act on it.

"Ok, don't even go there, I know when I'm beat. I'll buy you breakfast sometime." Sara smiled at the woman of her dreams. Well she wasn't really sleeping yet, but she knew that once she was, Catherine would in fact be in her dreams. "Well, I better get up there, my bed misses me. It wants me to get some sleep."

"Lucky you." Catherine commented. "I have to get home and start planning Lindsay's birthday party before I can get some."

"Yeah? That's in about a week right?" _'Get some? You can come right up and get some. I'll give you anything you want. Sleep, Sara! She meant sleep! I know, I know, but a girl can dream, can't she? And she definitely will now.' _Autopilot where are you?

"Yeah, February 1st. Thank God, she doesn't want a big party. Just a couple of friends and the family."

"Yeah? That should make it easier on you. Well good luck with it." She opened the car door not really wanting to go but knowing the other woman would find it odd if she stayed much longer. "I'll see you tonight at work." She said and got out.

"Yes, I'll see you." Catherine said. "And Sara…" She added just as the younger woman was about to close the door.

"Huh?" Sara looked up.

"Don't think I'll forget about breakfast. I still want to know how you earned your nickname _and_ how Veronica knows that you're ticklish." She smiled as Sara blushed immediately and closed the door. She waved one last time before driving off.

Looking at the car leaving Sara tried to pull herself together. She wanted to go upstairs but her legs didn't seem to agree with her. The only thing she really wanted to do was stand there and follow the car with her eyes until she couldn't see it anymore. _'Boy, you are in so much trouble Sidle.'_ She thought to herself as she turned around, going up to her waiting bed.

Once in bed, Sara couldn't fall asleep. The events that morning kept playing out in her head. She had had more than one civil conversation with Catherine in the same day. In fact, they had been flirting at the end of it, she was sure of that.

She loved the way Catherine kept her hair nowadays – long and wavy, framing her face perfectly. Her cute little button nose, those big beautiful blue eyes that expressed her feelings when you looked deep enough, those luscious lips just sitting there being an invitation to paradise.

The perfect curves of her body. Everything just perfectly matched together, like a beautiful peace of art. Perfect size breasts, one of the best asses Sara had ever seen, and legs to die for. Catherine knew what she had and dressed to show it the best way possible. The button-up shirts were Sara's favourites. Catherine left the top three buttons open showing just the right amount of cleavage. You could really get lost in that cleavage. Lost looking down that…

Shaking her head of those thoughts, because it was not getting her any closer to falling asleep, Sara let her mind sweep over her old friend Foxy.

She had gotten smaller in the years that had passed. She had always been tiny, but she was even smaller than Sara remembered her. She might give people the impression that she had everything under control, and that she was fine, but Sara knew better. Maybe food was her way of gaining control - again. That was what she had used after waking up from the coma, claiming that if nothing else, at least she had control over what she would eat.

Sara remembered that night as if it was yesterday. She had spent longer than she expected at the library, and when she came back to their room it had been a mess. Things were thrown around the room like somebody had been fighting. And then as her eyes landed on Foxy's bed, she saw the beaten up naked little body lying perfectly still. She had paused for just a second before rushing in the room. She didn't remember much of what she had done, but the next minute the ambulance was rushing her best friend in the world to the hospital, the paramedics saying it looked really bad. She remembered looking down noticing the blood on her hands, seeing how her white shirt had red stains on it. Even then she knew better than to throw up on a crime scene. She had sprinted to the bathroom. That was the only time she had thrown up looking at a scene.

Sara shook her head again and got up from the bed. She went to the living room and turned on her police scanner; maybe a little noise could help her fall a sleep. She threw herself on the couch and after a long while she finally drifted into a light slumber.


	5. Haunted

Thanks for the reviews, I think you know by now how much I like receiving them and appreciate them. This chapter proved to be a little difficult, just ask my beta Jess. But I think (hope) we worked out the kinks in it and that it makes sense.

Please review and let me know if you like this chapter or if you hate it, it would really help in writing the next chapter, which is actually a bit harder for me to write than this one has been.

Thanks Jess for all your thoughts and ramblings and the suggestions that made this chapter work. You're the best.

Well, what are y'all waiting for? Go read chapter five… Go on, it's ok. I've said my piece.

**Chapter five**

**Haunted**

Sara woke up five hours later when the phone started ringing. At first she was confused since no one ever called her on her home phone, but as it kept ringing she leapt up from the couch to answer it.

"Sara."

The line was quiet a little while before a low voice answered her.

"Hey."

"Ronnie?"

"I hate it when people call me that." She didn't sound mad though.

"Sorry."

"No. It's ok." Veronica sighed on the other end. "Somehow it sounds ok when you say it."

"How did you get my number?" Sara asked, wondering why her friend had called her so soon.

"I know people who know people." There was a pause. "Did I interrupt something? Oh God Sass, I'm sorry. I'll just…"

"No! No, I was just resting." Sara reassured her. "So, what's up? Miss me already?" She smiled into the receiver.

"No… I mean yeah… I mean…" She sighed again. "I just didn't expect this. Meeting you like that. I never saw it coming."

"I know what you mean." Sara said. "I couldn't believe my ears when I heard you."

"Sara." Veronica started.

Sara knew that things were a little off with her friend whenever she called her by her real name. She would do it sometimes when they were with other people, but almost never when they were alone.

"Yes?"

"Please don't take what I am about to say the wrong way?"

"Ok."

"I hated seeing you again. That's why I didn't come and say hi right away." She sounded as if she was close to tears.

"Ok." Sara thought about it for a second before continuing. "I understand. I know how you must have felt when I left like I did…"

"No. That's not the reason." For a while all that was heard on the line was breathing. "I love you, Sara. And I don't blame you for leaving; I would never blame you for anything. It's just…seeing you brought back memories…memories I don't want to think about. But it seems that I can't think about anything else today."

"I know." Sara went to the kitchen and started the coffeemaker while talking. "I've been doing some remembering of my own."

"I'll never be able to forgive myself for what happened to you." Veronica's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Honey…"

"I knew what you'd been through in the past. I should have done something to prevent it. I should have protected you."

"Ronnie." Sara put as much emotion in her voice as possible. "You were in the hospital. You had just woken up from a coma. There was nothing you could have done."

"I told you that I wouldn't let anyone hurt you again…"

"Veronica, stop." Sara's voice was gentle but firm. "We can't have this conversation on the phone. And you can't keep blaming yourself. He hurt you much worse than he hurt me, and he's in jail now. He can't hurt either of us anymore." Sara poured a cup of coffee; she needed something to ground her. "I'm ok, Veronica. I'm ok."

"Are you?" Veronica's voice was so soft that Sara had barely heard her.

"What?"

"Are you ok?"

"We can't have this conversation now, Foxy."

Sara was not ready for this conversation. She wasn't sure she'd ever be. Foxy had always been able to see right through her, and the part of Sara that for more than ten years had craved absolute privacy couldn't bear the thought of having to let the other woman inside her walls again.

"And that just answered my question." There was a pause again. "I'm sorry Sass. I shouldn't have called."

"Don't be sorry. I hate it when you're sorry." Sara smiled slightly.

"We have to talk though." Veronica said, her voice getting stronger.

"I know." Sara sighed. "I know…but I can't tonight, I have work."

"Me too."

"Tomorrow?" Sara didn't really want to have the conversation, but she did want to see her friend again.

"I'm starting a 24 hour shift in a couple of hours." She chuckled slightly on the other end. "That's work for ya, always getting in the way."

"Yeah." Sara said unconvincingly.

"Ok, so you probably live, eat, sleep and breathe work. But this time it's in the way, Hon." Even if they hadn't seen each other in over ten years Veronica had seen right through Sara. "Oh, Julie's crying, Sass. I gotta go see what's wrong. We'll talk later. Find a time, ok?"

"Yes. I have to get to work anyway. I'll call you. Go check on Julie."

"Thanks. Bye."

"Bye."

Sara hung up with a sigh. She had hoped that she'd left that part of her life behind. She never wanted to hurt like that again, never wanted to have someone being that close to her again. She lived her life just fine without the distraction of having to care deeply for another person. Not for another person who knew that she cared anyway. She cared for all the people on the graveyard shift, but it was just better for her to keep her distance – that way no one would have the chance to hurt her.

Catherine was the only exception. Somehow she had gotten under Sara's skin without her even noticing it. She had been too open this morning in the car. She had unintentionally let her in on parts of her past, let one of her many walls fall down. It felt good at the time, but having taken the time to think about it, she realized that it was a bad decision. She had just given her more ammunition to hurt her with.

Maybe breakfast wasn't such a good idea after all.

"You're early, Sidle." Catherine said entering the break room. After getting a cup of coffee, she sat down next to Sara. "Earth to Sara." When Sara still didn't answer, she waved a hand in front of the other woman's face.

Sara had been lost in thoughts about the phone call earlier, and she hadn't seen Catherine entering the room. _'I don't need this in my life. I've lived over ten years without her, I can live another ten years not having her in my life. I have a good life… I have my work and… and I love it. It makes me feel good…'_

Sara was startled when the hand came in front of her face. She stared at it a bit before looking confused at the owner of said hand.

"Catherine?"

"Sara."

Sara looked around the room, trying to find out if she had missed anyone else come in.

"When did you get here?" She asked the blonde.

"Eh… Five minutes ago." Catherine looked closer at the brunette, and noticed the slightly haunted look in her eyes. "Are you ok, Sara?"

"Yeah…" Sara looked at Catherine seeing the concern in the other woman's eyes. "I didn't get that much sleep."

"Ok." Catherine didn't really buy that explanation, but she let her get away with it for the time being.

"Hi guys." Nick entered the room heading for the coffee. "Anything interesting on tonight?"

Sara couldn't deal with having a normal conversation, so she let Catherine deal with Nick. _'Why is this happening now? I have enough to deal with. I have to fight this… thing… with Catherine.'_

"I don't know, Nick. I just got here myself. I haven't had the time to talk to Grissom." Catherine smiled at the Texan. "I needed my coffee first."

'_And how dare Foxy say I'm not ok? What does she know anyway, she sure as hell doesn't know anything about what my life is like now! Sure she does, Sidle. She hit the nail right on the head.' _The little voice of her conscience would not be drowned out by her rage. _'You love Foxy, let her help you, let her inside again. SHUT UP!'_ Sara concentrated on the people in the room, she needed to focus on something other than her thoughts.

"Did I hear someone mention coffee? Please tell me it's the good stuff. I could really use a cup!" Warrick was standing in the door to the break room looking tired.

"It's ok. Not the best I've ever had." Catherine answered him.

Sara glanced at the other woman slightly before returning her gaze to the table in front of her. _'I could be the best you've ever had. No, stop it Sara. Distance, remember? You have got to keep your distance from her!'_ She was saved from going further into that line of thinking as Grissom came in the door. She really needed to get her thoughts in check.

"Assignments people." He said and got their attention. "Nick, Warrick, you have a missing person." He handed them a slip of paper and they headed out.

"Catherine, Sara…"

Sara's head snapped up. She was working with Catherine. How was she going to get through an entire night working side by side with her? How was she going to keep her distance?

"… You have a DB in the desert." He handed Catherine another slip of paper and the blonde got to her feet. Looking down at Sara she asked:

"Are you coming?"

'_Coming? Twice in one day? You've got to be kidding me! Forget about the distancing, how am I going to keep my mind out of the gutter? I don't need this now.'_

"What about Greg?" Sara asked the supervisor.

"He's with me tonight." Grissom smiled. "We have bugs."

Greg, who had just come in the door, frowned upon hearing this. Sara shrugged her shoulders at him, there was nothing she could do to help him on that one.

"We should get going, Sara." Catherine threw over her shoulder as she went for the door. Something was up with the lanky brunette, but Catherine was determined not to start a fight with her. She had enjoyed this morning without fighting, and she had liked that Sara had opened up to her a little. She didn't want to let a silly mood swing ruin the truce they had going.

Sara got up from her chair and followed her goddess out the door. For the first time since she could remember, she wished her shift would end soon.


	6. Getting down to business

Well, this has been an annoying chapter for me to write, but it's here now and I guess that's what matters. I hope you guys like it.

-Jess… Thank you, thank you, thank you… (The usual ramblings… and I'll even throw in a quack..). Couldn't have gotten though this chapter without your suggestions and editing. You're the best.

**Getting down to business**

"So…" Catherine said when they when they were on the way to their crime scene. "Do you wanna talk about it?" She glanced at Sara, who was gazing absently out the window. _'What happened between me dropping her off this morning and now? It's like she's a completely different person.'_

"Talk about what?" Sara answered. _'I can't let Foxy in, I can't let Catherine in. Protect yourself first, worry about others later.'_

She was determined not to be friendly with Catherine. It was safer to stick with being barely tolerable.

"Oh I don't know, the weather maybe…" Catherine said sarcastically. _'Stop it Catherine, we're trying to get her to talk here.'_ "Or how about why you're in such a bad mood today." She added in a more serious tone of voice.

"Let's just stick with working the case." Sara answered, continuing to stare out of the window.

"Okay…" Catherine drew out the word. The ride continued in silence. _'This is not going well. Maybe I should just give up. I can avoid her at work, it's not like we work that many cases together anyway. And we hardly ever see each other out of work.'_

'_It's for the best this way. I won't get hurt, and I won't hurt her. We'll just go back to the way it was before, that'll make everything so much easier.'_ Sara thought, as she watched the scenery fly by outside the car window. _'Besides, she is not even interested in me, why would she be anyway? I am too screwed up to be with someone like her. I shouldn't be allowed anywhere near her or her kid ever; they've had enough to deal with.'_

Since Sara didn't seem to want to talk, Catherine started fiddling with the radio. She stopped when she heard Eva Cassidy singing Fields of Gold.

"I just love this song." She said, and glanced shortly at Sara who was still looking lost and far away.

'_When was the last time you gave up because of a little bump in the road, Catherine Willows? If this was anyone else, you wouldn't take no for an answer, what makes this one different? She's not male, is that it? You need female friends as well, you know. We'll try again, here goes nothing.' _

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm not really in a talkative mood, Catherine. Can we just forget about it." _'Does this woman ever quit? Sara, you know you don't really want her to.'_

It wasn't really a question as much as a request and Catherine didn't argue.

She knew that Sara was a very private person, close to being a ghost really. Were it not for her job, no one would even know that she was alive. Catherine had always respected this. Well, if she was being completely honest, it was rather that she hadn't been interested in getting to know her younger colleague. Sara was a woman who was absolutely clueless as to how beautiful she really was, something that was unbelievable to Catherine. She had spent her younger days earning a living on her looks, and she knew how to use it to her advantage. When Sara had joined the team - beautiful, talented, and the most intelligent woman she'd ever met - Catherine had been jealous of her, fearing that she would take over from her. Worried that the boys would like Sara better. That was the reason she had treated the younger woman badly and she regretted that now. After having spent just one day not fighting with her, she had found that she actually wanted to get to know the enigma that was Sara Sidle. She felt bad for how she'd treated her. Now all she could do was to try to make up for it.

They had gotten out of the city by now and were halfway to the scene. All Sara wanted to do was throw herself into solving this case; to keep her mind from going anywhere else. Suddenly she felt the car come to a halt. She looked around and, not seeing any yellow tape, she turned and looked questioningly at Catherine.

"Why are we stopping?" She asked.

"Look, Sara." Catherine turned in her seat so she was facing Sara. "We don't have the best relationship in the world…"

"I know that. You know that. Let's just leave it there, and get on with the case." Sara interrupted. _'Why is she trying so hard? I can't let her get to me. Just don't look at her and everything will be ok.' _She averted her eyes from the form of Catherine and looked back out the window. _'Why don't you at least try to explain to her? Why not let her help? What is the worst that could happen?' _The voice of Sara's conscience could not be drowned out. It sounded a bit like the young Foxy Sara remembered.

"No, let's not." Catherine had to concentrate hard not to snap at the other woman. "I liked us being civil this morning, and I would like for that to continue." _'God, woman! You're driving me crazy! I'm running out of ideas here!'_

"Yeah? Well, I don't. Now can we get on with this?" Sara said, firmly but calmly. She didn't want to fight with Catherine, but she didn't want to do as the little voice in her head told her to either. _'Keep yourself protected. No one else will protect you. They say they will, but they will get hurt in the process. I don't want anyone else to get hurt.'_ Her thoughts were irrational, but it was what she knew and she stuck with that.

"Well, tough!" Catherine snapped. "I will not fight with you on this! I have been a bitch in the past, and I'm sorry about that…" Catherine paused. "Mostly I'm sorry for the way I behaved during Eddie's case. I should not have challenged your capabilities as a CSI, because you are one of the most intelligent and capable people I know." She tried unsuccessfully to get eye contact with Sara, so instead she took her hand.

'_She's touching my hand! Why is she touching my hand? Wait, she is holding my hand! I can't even look at her. Don't break your resolve, don't let her get to you. Just let got of her hand and that's it. She has such soft hands, the softest hands I've ever held. How can she have such soft hands with a job like this? Wait, did she just say that she think that I'm one of the most intelligent and capable people she knows? Is she trying to build up my confidence, so she can tear it down again? Why is she doing this? I can't let her get to me – I can't let her in. I need to protect the both of us.'_ Sara's head was spinning.

"I don't want us to fight like we've been doing. I would like for us to be friends, or at the very least for us to act civil around each other." Catherine sighed, frustrated. She doubted that she had gotten through to the other woman, but she meant every word she had said - she really did want to have some kind of positive relationship with Sara.

"Fine." Sara sighed. "We'll act civil around each other." _'That means I can still keep my distance. Civil means not having to spend any more time with her than absolutely necessary.' _"Can we go to the scene now?"

Catherine sighed, but started driving again. She knew that she still hadn't gotten through to Sara, but decided to just keep trying, no matter how the brunette felt about that.

"I'm not convinced that you want to improve our relationship." She said to the unmoving form next to her. "But I'll keep trying. I know when I've done something wrong, and I know when I need to fix it. I should have figured this out sooner, but it's too late to do something about that now. I can't promise we won't fight, but I do promise to apologize if and when it happens." She pulled the Tahoe to a stop once again. They had arrived at their crime scene.


	7. The Case

Here's chapter 7 for ya… I was really hung over writing this chapter, and it was not the best I've ever written. That's when I sent it to my fantastic beta, Jess, and she totally made it work. She gets credit as being co-writer on this chapter, because she made it readable and gave it the flow that I think it has now. Thank you soooo much, Jess.

Thank you all for the reviews, I hope you will like (… And review… hint, hint…) this one as well… Enjoy.

**Chapter Seven /The Case**

Getting out of the car, Sara automatically noticed the apparent lack of evidence on the scene before her. She knew better than to assume that that was the case, though. She went to the back of the Tahoe and got out the kits, as Catherine went to talk to Kim and Sofia who were watching over the scene.

"Why are they wasting detective time on this one?" Catherine asked as she approached the two women.

"I don't really know." Kim offered.

"I think Captain Brass has a hunch about this one." Sofia continued.

"Hunch?" Catherine asked.

"Yes, we have a 418 downtown, and Brass thinks this is the one."

"Who found the vic?" Sara asked as she joined the other three.

"A Mr. Johnson." Sofia confirmed, looking at her notes. "He was out driving – apparently, he'd had a fight with his girlfriend and needed some air. Bad for him, lucky for us. She wouldn't have been found for weeks if he hadn't stumbled upon her."

"Anyone touch the body?" Sara asked, all business.

"Mr. Johnson checked for a pulse, but other than that, no." Kim answered, just as efficient.

"So, we don't have an ID yet?" Catherine took over. Both she and Sara knew this game by heart, and they complimented each other perfectly.

"No, we waited for you. If this is who we think it is then we'll need all the evidence we can get." Sofia explained.

"Who do we suspect she is?" Catherine asked.

"Siobhan Rowan."

"Who is she?" Catherine asked confused, not recognizing the name.

"She is the daughter of Paul and Stella Rowan." Kim informed her.

"The Chief of Staff for the Governor of Nevada?" Catherine asked. If the girl was in fact Siobhan Rowan, then they had a nightmare case on their hand. The media coverage would be unbearable and the pressure from the sheriff and the Governor would be relentless. This could possibly be a VIP case.

"God, this is all we need right now." Sara sighed, locking eyes with Kimberly.

"I know."

There was a silent understanding passing between the two women that had nothing to do with the importance of the case.

This didn't go unnoticed by Catherine and Sofia, who looked at their colleagues and waited for an explanation. Catherine was the first to speak.

"Care to fill us in here?"

"I don't think it has any relevance to the case." Sara answered cautiously. "Besides we should get a positive ID before getting ahead of ourselves." She added, walking carefully towards the scene with a kit in hand.

"She's right. We'll panic after she gets the ID." Sofia smiled to show that she was only kidding.

They watched as Sara carefully looked for an ID on the body. When she found one she got up and walked towards them again.

"I got something."

"What does it say?" Catherine asked.

"We've got trouble." Sara said flatly. "Siobhan Meghan Rowan."

"Shit." Catherine breathed out.

"You said it." Sofia added quietly, looking towards the dumped body on the ground.

They stood for a couple of minutes in silence, each processing the magnitude of the case they had just been handed.

"Look." Kimberly broke the silence. "I don't know if this is going to be a problem…" She waited until she had everyone's attention before continuing. "…but I'm married to the oldest of the Governor's daughters."

"Wha…" Catherine was speechless. _'Veronica is the daughter of the governor of Nevada? And my sister Nancy is dating her twin brother - That means that my sister is dating…Oh my God!'_

"Somehow I doubt that it'll make a difference." Sara said in a low tone of voice. "Have you ever actually met him?"

"You know I haven't." Kimberly shot back, looking her square in the eyes.

"No problem then." Sara stated. She looked towards the scene and turned towards Catherine. "How do you want to do this?"

"Wait a minute." Catherine stopped her from moving closer to the scene by putting her hand on her arm. "Let me get this straight first. Veronica is the daughter of Governor Lavisham?" She looked between Kimberly and Sara for one of them to answer her. When Sara nodded in confirmation she continued. "But her name is Christiansen? And not because of marriage." She looked at Kimberly.

"She changed it when she turned 18. She kept Lavisham as a middle name, I think because of Benjamin. Look, this has nothing to do with the case; I just wanted to know if there would be any kind of conflict of interest with me working it."

"She's right Catherine." Sara said. "We need to process the scene and get her moved, before the press gets hold of this and sends out photographers."

"Fine." Catherine was not pleased, but let it go for the time being. "I'll take the body. You do perimeter and talk to Mr. Johnson."

"Fine. Let's get this over with." Sara grabbed her kit once again and walked towards the man standing with a uniformed cop. Catherine grabbed her kit as well, and moved carefully towards the body, leaving Sofia and Kimberly standing alone together.

"You want to tell me about this?" Sofia asked.

"Not really." Kim answered. "Besides, we'd better give the Captain a heads up."

"Sure." Sofia said, getting out her phone. "I'll call him."

----------

"Are you ready to go?" Catherine asked.

"Yeah." Sara got up from her crouched position. "There's nothing left to find here. This isn't the primary scene; she was dumped here."

"Yeah, poor girl. She was only 17 years old." Catherine sighed. "We'd better talk to Nick and Warrick. They have the missing person's case, and I'll bet we just solved it for them."

"I'll call them and arrange to meet with them back at the lab, if that's okay with you?"

"Sure, I'll go tell Curtis and Shaw that we're heading back while you do that." Catherine said, and started walking towards the two women.

---------

The drive back was uneventful, mainly because they both had their minds on the case in hand. Catherine was curious as to why Shaw had never met her in-laws, but she didn't press the subject. With the mood Sara had been in all day she knew that the brunette wouldn't tell her anything.

"Hey, Ladies." Warrick greeted them as they walked into Cath's office, after leaving their findings with the right lab technicians.

"Hi guys." Catherine said sitting down behind her desk. Sara, who had seated herself in a vacant chair next to Nick, nodded her hello.

"Who was your missing person?" Catherine asked, getting straight to the point.

"A Siobhan Rowan," Nick answered. "She's the…"

"…Daughter of the Chief of Staff in the Governor's office." Catherine interrupted him.

"Wow. You've sure got your politics down." Nick sounded impressed.

"Well, as much as I would like for you to think so, not really Nicky." Catherine smiled. "We found the body. It seems we're working the same case, and it is one political hot potato."

"You're telling us!" Warrick interjected. "It was big when she was just missing; this is going to be hell."

"Hell is not a strong enough word for this case." Nick said. "And the Governor has, what…three kids, and the youngest is the same age as the vic."

"He has five." Sara, who had been silent during the entire conversation, spoke up suddenly. "He and his wife have five kids." She clarified, before looking at Catherine. "I guess you have lead on this one. What do we do?"

"Erm…" Catherine thought about their course of action for a minute before speaking up again. "Warrick, I want you down at the morgue with the body. Nick, I need you to process the vic's clothes and get the lab results together for a later meeting…"

"But…" Sara interrupted.

Catherine held up a hand silencing her.

"I know that's your speciality, but I need you with me. We're going to meet up with the detectives at her parent's house. She still lived with them and we need to go through her room." She looked at each of them before continuing. "I know I don't have to say this, but we talk to nobody about this. The press does not get anything from this office."

The others nodded. She really didn't have to tell them, but they understood her doing so.

"Ok, let's get to work." Catherine finished. "Sara, I'll meet you outside in five, I just need to catch Grissom up. He's gonna love this."

Sara nodded and they all left the office, each going off their separate ways to do what they had been asked.

As Sara walked through the reception area, she spotted something white out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head and saw a familiar figure wearing a white lab coat standing near the doors.

"Veronica?"

"Sara. Sorry to bother you at work." Veronica came nearer.

"Foxy, I really can't talk right now. I'm busy with a case."

"I know, I have to get back to the hospital as well, it's just…" Veronica paused and went up close to Sara lowering her voice. "Kim called me and told me something. I need for you to tell me it's not true."

"She shouldn't have told you anything." Sara deliberately evaded the question, and Veronica picked up on that.

"God. That poor kid." She sighed, sitting down on the chairs next to them.

"Sara, you ready?" Catherine had appeared out of nowhere. "Veronica?" She said, noticing the other woman sitting in the chairs.

"Catherine, nice to meet you again." Veronica got up and shook the older woman's hand. "I heard this rumour, and I needed confirmation." She offered as an explanation as to why she was there.

"Is this rumour something that we should be discussing in the reception area?" Catherine asked Sara.

"No." Sara knew that she was being rude, but she couldn't help it. She really didn't need for these two women to get familiar with each other. She knew that Foxy would pick up on her feelings for Catherine and demand that she acted on them, something that Sara was not prepared to do – ever.

"Ok. Let's take this to my office, then." Catherine turned and walked back towards her office, with Veronica following close by.

'_This is not happening!'_

Sara had no other option but to follow the two of them.


	8. Outed

A huge thanks to my beta, Jess… As I've said before, you make this story better! You and the ducks…

Also thank you all so much for all the reviews. It means so much that y'all take the time to review.

Here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy. Please, feel free to review again and let me know what you think.

**Outed**

"I need you to tell me about how she was… about how she died." Veronica said as soon as the three walked into the office. She looked at Catherine for an answer.

"Look," Catherine started sympathetically. "I know you probably know this girl, but that is classified information. I'm sorry, but we can't tell you. Kimberly shouldn't have told you anything in the first place."

Veronica seemed to fight an internal battle. She absentmindedly touched one of the ducks placed on Catherine's desk, then jerked her hand away when she saw what she was touching. Sara smiled to herself knowing how much Veronica absolutely hated ducks - even the fake ones.

"Veronica, we're in a bit of a hurry." Catherine continued when neither of the other women spoke. "We need to get to a scene." She didn't want to reveal anything other than what the younger woman already knew.

"Catherine, I'm not… I did know Siobhan once; I don't anymore. I haven't had anything to do with her for, God, thirteen years now." Veronica sighed, not knowing how to continue without telling Catherine her deepest, darkest secret. A secret that not even her wife or twin brother knew anything about. The only person who knew was Sara because she had lived through it with her. "My parents disowned me when I was 15, because I told them about my sexual preferences. I haven't heard from them since."

"I'm sorry that happened." Catherine offered. "But this has nothing to do with this case."

"No, I know…" Veronica offered a ghost of a smile. "Thank you, but I'm just trying to explain why I need to know about how she was…" She trailed off and turned towards Sara.

'_Something is wrong'_

The words flew through Sara's mind. She hadn't seen Foxy in years, but the look in her eyes right now was the same as the one she'd had after she'd been attacked. Before Sara could give it anymore thought Veronica started talking again.

"Ok, I won't ask you to say anything. I just need to ask one question, and then I'll know. Is that ok?" She was looking at Sara, but it was somehow implied that she was asking permission from Catherine.

Sara glanced at Catherine, noticing her raising her left brow as if to ask her if she was ok with this course of action. She shrugged in answer, letting the older woman know that it was her decision.

"How will you know from asking one question?" Catherine asked.

Veronica turned and looked Catherine in the eyes for a brief moment before turning back towards Sara.

"Her reaction. She won't be able to hide it from me."

Catherine doubted that. Sara could hide anything from anyone; that was one thing she was sure of. After all, she had worked with the woman for the last five and a half years and she knew hardly anything about her.

"Ask your question. Though I doubt you'll get anything from it. But after that we have to leave."

"Ok. Thanks, Catherine." Veronica took a very small step closer to Sara and looked her in the eyes. She hesitated before asking: "Was it similar?"

Sara tried to not let her emotions show. She had seen the body. Seen how her throat had been slit, and heard when Catherine had told her that most likely she had been raped. She had seen the similarities between this body and the way she had found Foxy years ago.

"Oh, God…" Veronica's voice was pained and she dropped into the nearest chair holding her head in her hand. "Oh, God." She mumbled again.

Catherine got up from behind her desk wanting to give some kind of comfort to the girl, since Sara didn't seem to do anything about it. As she brushed past Sara, she felt the other woman's hand on her arm, effectively but gently stopping her. She turned towards the brunette wanting to ask her what the hell she was doing, but stopped when she saw the look in her eyes. She had seen the same look in the victims who survived a brutal crime, or in the ones the victims left behind; it was grief.

"She doesn't like anyone touching her when…" Sara stopped. "She just needs a minute."

Catherine nodded her consent. Sara hadn't let go of her arm and she looked down noticing how nice the other woman's hand really was. The thought was unexpected seeing how this was Sara Sidle she was thinking about, but it was not an unwelcome one. Catherine had been with a couple of women in her life, she didn't really have a preference. She mostly dated men, but that was mainly because it was easier; it was easier to show off in the real world.

She really did have nice hands.

Sara had followed her gaze and quickly removed her hand, hoping that she wasn't being too conspicuous. She met Catherine's deep blue eyes again, but the other woman just smiled slightly at her. She turned her attention back to Foxy and was surprised to see her looking intently at the two of them.

"You ok?" She asked her friend.

There was a pause before the other woman answered, but keeping eye contact Sara knew that her secret had been found out.

Veronica knew.

"Not really," Veronica offered rubbing her hands over her face. "I've been getting letters." She continued, meeting Sara's eyes again.

"Letters?" Sara whispered.

"Yeah. Warnings, ramblings, things like that." Veronica was intent on not giving away too much. "I never took them seriously, but it seems that I have to now."

"But… they would have told you if he was out." Sara was shaken.

"What is going on here?" Catherine asked, in a tone of voice that demanded answers.

Sara looked at Veronica, who returned the look and then sighed deeply. Her secret was about to go public.

"I, eh… I need to talk to Kimberly first." She said.

"You haven't told Kimberly?" Sara asked incredulously.

"You are the only one who knows, Sara." Veronica said seriously. "I didn't need the pity, but I have to tell the world now." She got up from the chair she had sunken into and threw her arms around her friend desperately needing a hug. When they parted she dried her eyes and turned to look at Catherine, who was clueless as to what was going on.

"I think I might have some, eh, clues for you, but I really need to talk to Kim first. I can't tell you this before I tell her." She paused. "Besides, the letters are at home so I need to go get them, and I need to call the hospital to have someone take over my shift." She searched her pockets and got out her phone.

"Ok, this is not protocol," Catherine stated. "I'll let it slide this once because you came here to help us, but we need to have that talk soon." She looked at Sara. "While she talks to Shaw and gets the letters, you and I will go to the Rowan house and search the vic's room." She started ushering them out the room, when Veronica stopped and turned towards the both of them.

"Look, my parents are probably at the house with Mr. and Mrs. Rowan." She started.

"Great…" Sara mumbled.

"Sass, you need to be on your best behavior." The younger woman warned. "This is the Governor we're talking about here. If you can't behave, let Catherine do the talking. Promise me?"

"Why should I treat him nice after all the shit he put you through?"

"Just promise me, Sara."

"Ok, I promise - I will let Catherine do all the talking." Sara held up her hands in surrender.

"That's as close I'll get to getting you to behave isn't it?"

"You know me too well." Sara answered. They knew that their attempt at lightening the mood was in vain.

"You have to make Daddy understand that Bridget and Anita have to be protected at all times." Veronica was now addressing Catherine, knowing that Sara would not get through to her father when she was in a bad mood.

"I'll tell him." Catherine promised.

"No, you have to do more than that. You have to insist that they are protected. If this is what we think it is, then one of them will be the next victim. Bridget is most likely the main target, but they both need to be protected. Please make him understand that!"

"I'll have Brass post a couple of uniforms with them." Catherine said, hoping it would calm down the other woman.

"Thank you." Veronica sounded relieved. She surprised Catherine by giving her a small innocent peck on the cheek and a brief hug. "I may not have seen them in years, but I need my sisters to be safe. No one deserves this kind of thing to happen to them."

"I have a sister of my own," Catherine explained. "I know how you feel."

The three women separated once they got outside the lab. Veronica was talking on the phone while catching a cab, while Catherine and Sara went to the Tahoe to drive to the Rowan residence.

"You want to give me some kind of preparation for this?" Catherine asked once they got in the car.

"It's bad." Sara said quietly. It could have sounded sarcastic, but it didn't. It just sounded sad.

"Ok." Catherine got her thoughts in order. "And you can't tell me about it?"

"I can tell you parts to prepare you, but I think I should do the driving, just in case." She got out of the car and Catherine scooted over to the passenger seat, wanting to be ready for what she would hear later.

"So…parts." She said, when Sara didn't start talking or driving.

"Yeah." Sara said, shaking her head to clear her thoughts she started driving. "When we were in college, Veronica was attacked. That part I can't tell you about because she should be the one to do that."

"That's ok." Catherine said. She wanted to know about the case, but a big part of her also wanted to know something personal about Sara.

"I was the one who found her; it was pretty bad. After the paramedics had rushed her to the hospital I puked my guts out." She laughed a hollow laugh. "That's the only time that's ever happened… The guy who attacked her wasn't too happy that I had saved her, so he attacked me one night when I got home from the hospital. Luckily I was taller and stronger than Veronica, so he didn't succeed. Somehow I got a hold of a lamp and smashed him over the head with it. He had beaten me up pretty bad, but he was down and didn't get back up."

"You killed him?" Catherine couldn't help but ask.

"No. I dragged myself to the phone and called the police. That's about it." Sara finished.

"No, it isn't." Catherine said looking at the brunette. "There's more, you're hiding something else."

"Not case related." Was the short answer to Catherine's unasked question.

"You can still tell me." Catherine said softly. "I can keep a secret." She looked at Sara. "And you look like you need to tell someone."

"I don't think that you are that someone, Catherine."

"Sara, I meant what I said earlier. I want to be your friend. You can trust me."

"Can I?" Sara stopped at a red light and looked at Catherine.

"Yes, you can." The blonde answered.

Sara saw nothing but honesty in the beautiful blue eyes in front of her and made a huge decision. She decided to let Catherine in a little bit, and that was a big thing for her to do.

"She was in a coma for a week."

"Veronica?"

"Yes. The hospital staff called her father but they were informed that he had no desire to see her."

"Oh."

"Yeah. I mean, he was her father and he didn't care that his daughter could die! How can an otherwise good parent act like that just because he doesn't agree with the people she falls in love with?"

"I don't know." Catherine really didn't know. She would always love Lindsey no matter what the girl chose to do. She would rather die than not have her in her life. "I really don't know, Sara."

The rest of the ride was silent, both women lost in their thoughts. As they pulled up to the Rowan residence Catherine turned towards Sara.

"I think Veronica is right. I'll do the talking and you can start processing the room."

"Yeah, I think that's the best idea too." Sara agreed. "I don't really trust myself when it comes to talking civilly with the good Governor."

With that she got out of the car and took out the kits from the trunk. Catherine waited for her and together they went to the door and rang the bell.


	9. Meeting the Governor

Again thank you for the reviews I've received. You all know by now how much I love getting them!

The biggest thank you goes out to Jess, my beta, and the ducks. I still love the ducks! I hope the ducks will return!

Other than that I just hope you'll enjoy this chapter… And maybe review as well…

**Chapter Nine**

**Meeting the Governor**

As the pair waited for someone to open the door, Catherine turned towards Sara.

"Should we have Veronica protected as well?"

"I don't know," Sara sighed. "It can't be the same guy. He got 25 to life and there's no way in hell he could be out on parole after just twelve years."

"But if Veronica was the one he wanted in the first place, shouldn't she be protected?" Catherine didn't want the petite doctor to be hurt. She liked her, and she liked how she could get Sara to show some feelings.

Before Sara had the chance to answer Catherine's question a young woman opened the door.

"May I help you?"

"Hello, I'm Catherine Willows with the Las Vegas Crime Lab and this is Sara Sidle. We're here to ask Mr. and Mrs. Rowan a couple of questions."

The maid showed them inside and took them to a big living room where the victim's parents were sat, surrounded by several people. The room was quiet; the silence only interrupted by sobs which they presumed were coming from the victim's mother. Sofia was sitting in a chair close to Mr. and Mrs. Rowan and stood up as they entered the room.

"Mr. and Mrs. Rowan, these are the people I was telling you about; Catherine Willows and Sara Sidle from the Crime Lab."

Catherine took the lead and shook Mr. Rowan's hand as he got up to greet them.

"Mr. Rowan, Mrs. Rowan. We're very sorry for your loss. I assure you that we're doing everything in our power to find the person who did this."

"Thank you, Mrs…"

"Miss Willows... Catherine." Catherine offered a small smile. "This is Sara Sidle." She gestured to her colleague.

"I'm very sorry for your loss." Sara said, shaking the man's hand.

"What can we do to help?" He asked. "I… We just don't understand how this could happen. Siobhan was such a well-liked girl; she didn't have an enemy in the world…she was only seventeen."

"Sir, I would like to see her room, if that's ok with you." Sara asked gently.

"And while she does that, I have some questions I'd like to ask you about your daughter." Catherine explained.

"Sure… sure, I'll just get someone to show you to her room." The distraught man looked around helplessly.

"I can show Miss Sidle to the room." A male voice offered.

Catherine looked back and panicked as she realized who had spoken.

"No!" She nearly shouted the one word.

Sofia looked at her questioningly; it was not like Catherine to act that desperate.

"I might need information from you as well, Governor." She added quickly to cover up. The last thing she wanted was that man and Sara alone together. She looked around at the other people in the room and was surprised when she saw the girl standing next to the Governor. She was just like a younger version of Veronica Christiansen. She glanced over at Sara, and saw that she was looking at the girl too.

Sara had frozen as she heard the Governor offering to show her the room. When Catherine dodged that bullet she sighed gratefully, and looked more carefully at the man who'd sent away his oldest child. He looked normal, he even looked nice. _'That just shows you that you can never judge a book by its cover.'_

Her eyes fell on the girl standing next to the man and found herself looking at the woman she had loved more than anyone else thirteen years earlier. _'No, it's not her. The eyes are a bit further apart, the nose a little bigger, mouth not nearly as full, and the eyes…not nearly expressive enough to be her.'_

Both women were shook out of their thoughts when Paul Rowan spoke again.

"May, could you show Miss Sidle to Siobhan's room, please?"

"Yes, Sir." The young woman who'd shown them in looked at Sara expectantly.

"Sofia, Catherine, could I speak to you for a second?" Sara asked the two blondes.

They went to the door leading out of the room.

"What the hell is going on here?" Sofia demanded in a whisper. "Catherine, you just offended the god damn Governor of Nevada!"

"Where's Shaw?" Sara asked in a hushed voice.

"She got a call from the wife and took off. Said it was important." Sofia answered. "Are you going to answer my question?"

"We've got a possible lead." Catherine took over. "We've found similarities to a thirteen year old case. I don't want Sara alone with the Governor, because… God, this is too long a story to tell here. Just follow my lead – trust me – and you'll get the full story when we get out of here." She looked towards the people in the room. "You need to place uniforms with two Lavisham girls; one of them might be the next victim if we don't protect them."

"What? I can't just do that! How the hell am I going to explain that to the Governor?"

"Just do it, Sofia." Sara told her. "Tell him that we need them protected until we've made sure that they're not in danger."

"As soon as we get out of here, I'm getting that explanation."

"I promise." Catherine promised. "Sara, go process the room. Sofia, call Brass and have him send the uniforms. I'll go talk to the parents. Ok?"

"Good luck." Sara mumbled and went for the stairs where the maid was waiting for her.

"Yeah, sure." Sofia got out her phone and called Brass.

"Good." Catherine sighed. She didn't need two sulky colleagues on a case like this. She put on her game face and went back into the room.

--------

As Sara came down the stairs a couple of hours later, Catherine exited the living room.

"You all done?" Catherine asked.

"Yes. Nothing much there, really. The only thing that might give us something is a diary; but I need a warrant for that."

"No need. Mr. Rowan signed a release form giving us permission to take whatever we need to solve the case."

"Great. Good thinking."

"Thanks, you did good too." Catherine smiled.

"Thanks."

This was new; they never gave each other compliments. There was a short awkward silence.

"So, is Sofia all done?" Sara said, breaking it.

"Eh… Yes, I think so. The uniforms have been posted, so I think we can get out of here."

"Great…" Sara sighed.

"You ok?"

"Yeah, it's just…" Sara looked around.

"Just what?" Catherine prodded.

"I always knew that Veronica was made of money, but I just never… realized it I guess." She looked around again. "I mean, look at this place!"

"It's impressive alright, and this is just the Chief of Staff's house. Just imagine what the Governor's house looks like."

"Catherine? Sara?" Sofia joined them. "Are we done here?"

"Yes, I don't think we'll get anything useful from them right now." Catherine answered her. "We should question Bridget Lavisham some time tomorrow, I think. She was best friends with the vic, so she might know something the parents don't."

"Why not do that now?" Sofia inquired.

"We have another witness to question tonight." Sara told her.

"There's a witness? Who?"

"Ver…"

"Excuse me Miss Willows," Governor Lavisham interrupted. "I need to know what you've got so far on this case."

"You what?" Sara asked incredulously.

"Sara." Catherine placed a hand on the other woman's arm to calm her down. "Take the evidence to the car and wait for me there." When the brunette didn't seem to have heard her she continued, "Now, Sara! I'll meet you out there."

"Sure." Sara spat out. She threw one more evil look at the man standing in front of them and left.

"I'm sorry, Governor, but we can't give out that kind of information at this point." Catherine addressed the man.

"I am the Governor of Nevada; I think you can tell me what you are doing to solve the murder of my Goddaughter!"

"I cannot break the chain of evidence." Catherine explained. "If I tell you the things we've discovered so far, we could risk that the case is thrown out of court because of a technicality. Neither of us wants that." There was a reason that Catherine was the people person of the group.

"I see…Can you tell me if you've got anything solid to go on?" The Governor had calmed down a little.

"I can't tell you much, sir. I can tell you that we have leads to follow up on, and we're taking this very seriously. What you need to do is make sure that your daughters are safe. You need to have people look after them and make sure that they are not alone at any time."

"You think this happened because of me and my position?" He asked brokenheartedly.

"No." Catherine said. "Not because of you. But it might have some relation to your family. That's all I can give you right now. We have police officers looking after them." She gestured towards the living room. "But if you need additional protection that will be ok with us, as long as they are safe. I have to get back to the lab now, but if you or the Rowans have any questions you can call this number." She handed him a card with her number on it.

"Thank you, Miss Willows."

She turned to leave but the Governor's voice called her back.

"Miss Willows… I…" He paused. "I have another person who will need police protection."

"Another person?" Catherine asked. "Who?"

"Her name is Veronica Lavisham, she's our oldest daughter." He looked away from Catherine's face. "If the person responsible for Siobhan's death is after my family then she needs protection as well."

"I see." Catherine didn't know how to respond to this information. She knew that Veronica was his daughter, but he didn't know that she did. She hadn't expected him to ask her to protect Veronica; she hadn't expected him to tell her that he had another daughter.

"We… I made a mistake years ago concerning Veronica, so we have no contact with her. I don't know how to get in contact with her, but I'll get some people on it right away and let you know…"

"I… Eh… My colleague who just stormed out of here knows Veronica." Catherine said, deciding that honesty was best in this situation. If this had – God forbid – been Lindsey, she would want to know that her baby was safe. "I'll see if she wants protection."

"You need to do more than that! You have to insist that she is protected. Please." He begged. "I need for her to be safe!"

"I'll try." Was all Catherine could offer.

"Thank you, Miss Willows." He said gratefully. "Will you tell her… that I'm sorry?"

"I can't do that. I'm not the one who needs to apologize." She looked him in the eyes one last time before turning to leave.

---------------

Cath met a fuming Sara at the car.

"What did you tell him?" She demanded when Catherine reached her.

"Nothing about the case. God, Sara, what do you think of me?" Catherine shot back.

"Well, how the hell should I know? You dismissed me in there like I was a rookie!"

"You acted like one!" Catherine all but yelled back. "What the hell were you thinking? That is the Governor in there! He could have you fired for this!"

"Who cares! I don't need this job if it means I have to bow down to people like him!"

This was turning into a full-blown fight, and this was definitely not the time for that. Catherine took a deep calming breath before continuing.

"He asked me to protect her, Sara." She told the agitated woman in front of her.

"What?"

"He asked me to protect Veronica and to tell her that he's sorry." Catherine took the keys out of Sara's hand and got in the car. "Get in the car, Sidle. This is not the place to do this. Sofia will meet us at the lab."

"But…"

"Get in the car!"


	10. Tension

Thanks for all the reviews, I love getting them!

As always the biggest thanks to Jess the Beta, you rock! And the ducks as well, we cannot forget the ducks.

Enjoy…

**Chapter Ten**

**Tension**

The silence in the car was deafening. Both women were fuming, but neither wanted to have a full-blown fight in the car. Their reasons for not wanting this were different, but neither wanted to admit these to each other.

The silence was deafening…

Thankfully the ride was short, and soon they pulled into the parking lot at the lab. Catherine turned off the engine but stayed in place, struggling to get her thoughts in order. Sara was about to get out the car, but when she noticed Catherine staying put, she stopped.

"Look, Catherine." She started, "About before…"

"What?" Catherine breathed out dejectedly.

"I don't think this guy is going after Veronica."

Catherine's eyebrows shot up. _'Is this her idea of an apology?' _She looked at the woman next to her, but found that she was looking determinedly out the front window.

"And what would make you think that?" She inquired.

"There is no way Dunne is out of jail, so I'm thinking that maybe he has someone doing his dirty work for him."

"Let's say you're right, why would he have this _someone_ spare Veronica?"

"Because he is obsessed with her, and he would never allow a protégée to finish his work."

"Maybe you're right. You know more about this than I do." Cath replied, pointedly.

"I can't be the one to tell you, Catherine. I made a promise to Veronica."

"Yes, and I respect that, but we're working a case here, Sara. I need this information to solve it."

"_You_ need it to solve it?" Sara looked at her, "I thought this was _our_ case."

"You're taking words out of my mouth. But you're too close to this case, you can't be objective!" Catherine said forcefully.

"You're not taking me off this! I am too damn valuable in solving this case!" Sara got out of the car and slammed the door. "You're not taking me off this case!"

"Sara!" Catherine hurried after the brunette who was storming into the lab. "Damn it, Sara, will you wait up!"

Sara stormed into the building, furious. _'How dare she do this? Who the hell does she think she is? This is my past to deal with; she is the one who should be taken off the case…!'_

"Sara?"

"What!" Sara said exasperated, as she turned towards to the woman talking.

"Are you ok?" Foxy asked concerned.

"Foxy?"

"Yeah," Veronica placed a hand on Sara's upper arm in comfort. "Are you ok?"

"I will be. I just need a little space right now." Sara sighed.

"Ok." Veronica paused, looking closer at the taller woman. "You met my dad." She stated.

"Yes, I did."

"And…"

"And I let Catherine do the talking."

"So you're not upset because of him. What happened?"

"Sara!" Catherine stormed in the building. "My office! Now!"

"No!" Sara snapped back.

"What?" Catherine was taken aback.

"Oh…" Veronica suddenly realized who had gotten to Sara.

"Veronica?" Catherine had been so determined to get to Sara that she hadn't seen the other woman. "Are you ready to talk?"

"I…" Veronica looked at her fuming friend. "I have the case file here." She handed a folder to Catherine. "You could read this first to get the forensic facts and then I'll tell you what happened. I really need a word with Sara right now, is that ok with you?"

"We need to get this case moving, we don't have time…"

"Catherine, is that ok with you?" Veronica asked forcefully, interrupting whatever Sara was about to say.

"I…" Catherine looked at the folder in her hand. _'Calming down right now would be best. I won't be able to control my temper around Sara much longer.' _She looked back up. "Sure. We meet in the interrogation room in half an hour. I'll let everybody know."

"Thank you, Catherine." Veronica said gratefully.

"What? You can't just make these kinds of decisions without consulting me." Sara felt the anger rising again.

"I am the senior on this and any other case, Sidle. I call the shots. Half an hour, in the interrogation room."

With that, Catherine walked off towards her office to calm down.

"Who the hell does she think she is?" Sara said through clenched teeth.

"Your superior?" Veronica grabbed hold of Sara's arm and dragged her towards the exit. "Come on."

"Veronica, stop." Sara stopped. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to get you outside so you can calm down."

"I'm not the one who needs to calm down!"

"No, you're just the one about to make a scene in the lobby of your workplace." Veronica whispered rather loudly, "But fine, you wanna do this here, we can do this here."

For the first time, Sara looked around and noticed the people staring at them. Some of them whispered to each other and she knew what they were saying: Sara Sidle never acts like this; Sara Sidle never loses her cool; Sara Sidle is about to make a scene with someone other than Catherine Willows.

"Fine, let's go outside."

------

Catherine threw the file on her desk and sat down. She pinched the bridge of her nose trying to get back some sort of control over her emotions. Sara was driving her crazy, and she didn't know how to get the other woman to understand that she was just trying to help. Though, at least now she might finally understand why the other woman always reacted so strongly to rape cases. She herself reacted strongly to those cases, but there was just something in Sara that refused to let go until everything was solved. Catherine admired that dedication in her, but she also knew where that road would lead her… Burnout.

Sara was good at what she did, but she forgot to take care of herself. She did everything she possibly could for the victims and then some, but she did nothing to take care of Sara. And that broke Catherine's heart.

'_Wait, what? Breaks my heart? I feel sorry for her, but it doesn't break my heart. Sara is a co-worker and that is it. It does not break my heart that she won't take care of herself.'_

She sighed and picked up the file she'd thrown on the table earlier and started reading.

"So, what makes you tick, Sara Sidle?"

-------

"You want one?" Veronica held out a pack of cigarettes to Sara, "You look stressed out enough to need one."

They had sat down on a bench situated far enough from the entrance to the lab to provide them with some privacy.

Sara took the offered cigarette and lit it, but stayed quiet.

"It's funny." Veronica started after seeing that Sara was not going to make this easy on her. "Even after everything that's happened; I still love the night. It's so quiet; it gives you time to clear your head and just think." She looked at Sara wanting some kind of reaction from her. "Or maybe it's just because I don't sleep much since Kim left."

"Since Kim left?"

"Yeah, believe it or not I actually found someone who makes me feel safe."

"I'm happy for you."

"Thanks."

Sara grabbed another cigarette and lit it. The silence stretched between them.

"They walked out on me." Veronica offered.

"Who are 'they'?"

"Kimberly and Benjamin."

"They walked out on you?"

"Yeah, after I told them they walked out on me."

"Just like that?" Sara sounded calmer than she really was.

"Kim said something about needing air." Veronica sighed, defeated.

"And Benjamin?"

"Benjamin… Ben just looked at me, got up and left."

Sara put an arm around the younger woman. Veronica welcomed the gesture and leaned into the offered body; letting Sara give her comfort.

"Your dad was different from what I thought." Sara said, still holding onto the smaller woman.

"Yeah," Veronica sniffed. "He's a nice person."

"How can you say that?"

"Sooner or later in life you have to learn how to forgive, Sass. I forgave them a long time ago. I had to if I wanted to get on with my life. You can't live your life hating, we've both seen – felt – what happens when people hate. My parents made a mistake a long time ago, and someday they'll realize that."

"That doesn't mean you have to forgive them. I know… I know that you…"

"Sass, my situation is nothing like yours. My parents made a mistake; your parents… your parents should burn in Hell."

"I'm not talking about me here."

"Yes you are, hon. And it's ok if you never forgive your parents. I'll never forgive them. Hell, even Ghandi would smack them down."

They chuckled lightly at the attempt of humour.

"Man…" Sara sighed leaning back. "Remember when we used to have fun?"

"Yeah…" Veronica leaned back as well. "Let's get this shit behind us and then I promise to take you out. We'll even bring Catherine and have you…"

"You won't finish that sentence if you know what's good for you!"

"What? You know you want her!"

"And I know she doesn't want me, so let's let sleeping dogs lie."

"I would…"

"But?"

"One, I'm not too sure she doesn't want you. Two, I tried the dog thing with this mess, and now I'm alone and friendless."

"You've got me." Sara looked her square in the eye to show her how serious she was. "And I won't run away this time."


	11. Preparations

Again I thank you all for the reviews. As always I hope that you'll review on this chapter as well.

Jess, thank you so much, you know how much I appreciate your work on this! And the ducks – they are so ugly, but I love them.

Enjoy…

**Chapter Eleven**

**Preparations**

A little while later Sara and Veronica headed inside to a small conference room. Catherine had called Sara to tell her about the change of venue. There were six people connected to this case who needed to hear about Veronica, and the interrogation room was too small for all of them. They met up with Catherine outside the room.

"Are you ready for this?" Catherine asked Veronica.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess." Veronica sighed.

"I read the file." Catherine paused, contemplating her next words. "I don't know if it will mean anything to you, but what happened to you was wrong and I'm very sorry."

"Thanks." Veronica looked at the older woman. "It does mean a lot to me, but I don't want the pity."

"I can't say that I pity you as much as I'm outraged by what that monster did."

"Well, thanks." Veronica smiled slightly, but they could sense the nervousness rolling off her. "We better do this then."

"Yes, would you mind if I have a quick word with Sara before we get started?"

"No problem." Veronica opened the door to the room. "I'll just wait for you." She closed the door behind her as she entered the room.

------

Inside the room were the other four who would hear the story she was about to tell. She looked around and noticed that all their faces were familiar; she had seen them at the breakfast where she'd met Sara again. There was the black guy with the amazing eyes, the Texan with the charming smile, the beautiful blonde detective – and Kim. Veronica sat down at the end of the table with a strained smile plastered to her face.

"Hello, Doctor Christiansen." The Texan offered. "I'm Nick Stokes, in case you forgot."

"Hello Mr. Stokes. It's nice to see you again. And I guess since you're all about to hear my most private secrets, you might as well call me Veronica."

"Well, Veronica, I'm Warrick Brown."

"And I'm Sofia Curtis."

"Nice to see all of you again."

The room fell quiet. Veronica kept her eyes on Kimberly, but the other woman did not meet her gaze. The silence was getting to Sofia and she tried to start a conversation.

"It's been really hot out today, huh?" She asked no one in particular.

"Yeah, they say it's gonna be just as bad tomorrow." Nick offered.

"They said that you should remember to drink a lot of water." Warrick added, equally as uncomfortable in the silence.

"Water is important to stay hydrated." Sofia inwardly cringed at her attempt to keep the conversation going.

"Do you all know what I'm doing here?" Veronica interrupted, unable to stand the weather talk any longer.

"Yes they do. They're just trying to make you a little more comfortable." Kimberly answered.

"I appreciate the gesture, but I think about the only thing that would make me less uncomfortable right now would be you telling me where you have been the last hour and a half and what you are going to do about the thing I told you. But that's not going to happen, so…" She sighed deeply. "You really should drink a lot of water tomorrow if it gets really hot. I don't want to see you at the hospital because you forgot."

The silence returned and this time none of them broke it.

------------

"So, what do you want?" Sara asked quite rudely. "Wait, sorry," She held up both hands when she saw the look on Catherine's face. "Let me rephrase that. How can I help you, Catherine?"

"I'm not going to take you off this case, Sara." Catherine started.

"Thank you."

"I have every right to do so, but I'm going to keep you on because you know about the old case." Catherine looked Sara in the eyes. "And because you are an excellent investigator. But…"

"But…?"

"I will not tolerate you treating me like you just did. I have told you that I want us to get along. I will not fight you – not on this!"

"This is getting to me, Catherine." Sara said quietly.

"What?" To say that Catherine was surprised by this openness from her colleague was an understatement.

"You want us to be more open with each other, I'm being open. This is all very overwhelming for me."

"Do I need to take you off?" Catherine inquired in the same quiet voice Sara was using.

"No." Sara looked at her. "I can do this. I need to do this for Veronica – I need to do it for me."

"Ok." Catherine thought about it for a moment. "But if you…"

"If I can't handle it, I'll take myself off the case."

"Ok." Catherine offered a brilliant smile to Sara. "See, we can do this without the fighting – talking." She gestured between the two of them.

"Yeah, I guess we can." Sara smiled back weakly. "Just for the record, I'm sorry for the yelling and for almost loosing my temper at the house."

"Almost?"

"Yeah, almost. I could have been a lot worse." Sara smirked.

"Oh, that I know! And for the record, I'm sorry that I treated you like a rookie, but it was the fastest way for me to get you out of there."

"You know, if we aren't careful, people might think we like each other." Sara needed a little playful banter before having to go back to a part of her past she had tried to forget.

"Well, Sara, it might surprise you, but I do like you."

"Oh."

"Yeah, don't let it go to your head." Catherine pointed towards the door. "Shall we?"

"Huh?" _'She likes me? How the hell am I going to take that? Likes me how? God, when did I go back to being thirteen? She likes me! Happy mental smiley!'_ "Yeah, let's get this over with."

With that, they went into the conference room.

--------

The silence as they entered the room was palpable. Veronica was seated at one end of the table with the two chairs on her left and right vacant. The others in the room seemed uncomfortable and looking at anything but each other. Catherine raised an eyebrow in an unasked question to Warrick. He shook his head as to say that it had nothing to do with the case, and that it needn't be addressed.

Sara went straight to Veronica's left side and sat down beside her.

"Are you ok?" She asked her friend.

"Sure." Was the only reply she got.

Sara knew that Veronica was being evasive; after all, she herself was the master of evasions. But she knew how hard it had to be for her to tell this story to people – people she didn't know at that. But it had to be done, she had to tell her story for this bastard to be caught. She knew how important it was for her friend to keep the people she cared for safe. She herself had been one of those people ten years ago. She was still one of those people.

"Ok, let's get started." Catherine's voice broke through Sara's musings.

"Yeah." Veronica looked up at the people sitting around the table. "Do you have the file?"

"Yes, it's right here." Catherine held the file towards the young woman, but she didn't take it, she just shook her head.

"Would you pass the pictures around?" She asked.

"Sure." Catherine gave the photos to Nick who was sitting next to her.

"When I was 17 years old I was stalked by a man called Oscar Charles Dunne." Veronica started. "But I didn't know that he was stalking me until he attacked me in my dorm one night."

"Sorry to interrupt you, Veronica, but I need you to state your name, age and profession for the tape recorder." Catherine said gently.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Veronica shook her head slightly. "My name is Veronica Lavisham Christiansen, I'm 28 and I'm a doctor."

"Thanks." Catherine said. "Just take your time; I can imagine that this must be hard for you."

Veronica reached out and held Sara's hand, but kept her eyes on Kimberly.

"I've always been a smart kid. They called me a kid genius and told me that I have one of the highest IQs in the world. I… I always hated being put in a box, but I loved learning, so I finished high school early and went to college at 15. It was great, though I missed my brother so much. But on my first day I met a girl who became my best friend and she made it easier to be away from him. We ended up sharing a dorm room… I never knew that someone was following my every move. I never suspected anything. I was never careless when I was out alone. I never talked to strangers; I thought I was doing everything right. But one night when S… When my friend was…" She felt Sara squeezing her hand lightly.

"I was… am the friend." She interrupted.

Veronica nodded gratefully.

"One day when Sara was at the library…"


	12. The Story

Thank you all for the reviews on chapter 11. This chapter has been a little hard to write, so I would be very happy if you'd let me know what you think of it.

Jess, thank you so much for betaing this! This story would suck if you hadn't helped so much with it! And the ducks too of course – I still say they're ugly!

**A/N: **Warning: This is dark and angsty.

**Chapter Twelve**

**The Story**

"One day when Sara was at the library…" She paused. "Someone knocked on the door. I answered and before I knew it, he was inside the room and I was knocked out. When I woke up, I was… I was strapped to one of the beds… naked." She paused not wanting to continue.

"It's ok," Sara soothed. "You can do this."

"I… He talked to me constantly while… while he… raped me. Told me how much he loved me. Told me how we would spend eternity together. How I was made for him and him alone; that God had created the perfect mate for him in me. He told me how he loved it when I wore red for him; how he knew that I had been thinking of him when I chose my outfits…How it was so nice of me to get rid of my roommate so we could spend time together alone. I kept pleading for him to let me go; for him to stop – after three hours I just prayed to God that it would be over one way or another. There was nothing I could do…"

"If it would make it easier for you, you could just tell us the facts. Keep it clinical." Catherine tried to make it easier on the younger woman.

"No!" She answered strongly. "Siobhan went through this as well. You need to know what kind of bastard you are dealing with here. This is not a run of the mill criminal… He torments and… he gets off on petrifying his victim. He hurts you until you wish that you were dead; leaves you alone for a while, and then he starts all over again."

"It's ok." Sara put her hand on her arm. "Just go on with the story. We need this to get him."

Veronica offered her a weak smile.

"You ok?" She asked the brunette.

"I'm here for you, that's all that matters right now." Sara rubbed the other woman's arm in a soothing gesture.

Veronica paused for a moment before continuing.

"I prayed to God to kill me as he raped me for the fourth time… I think it was the fourth time… I lost count… I thought that He must have heard my prayers because Dunne untied me, and I was stupid enough to think that it was over…

"It wasn't. He started beating me. He said that I had to be his for eternity and that he couldn't let anybody else touch me – that I had to get used to the loving feel of his hands. That he would be my first, and last… I managed to choke out that he was not my first, and he would never be my last, and I guess that really set him off. He pulled out a knife and stabbed me in the stomach. I don't think that was supposed to happen, because he looked so surprised when he saw the blood...

"He threw me back on the bed – on my stomach – and then he slid the knife slowly… so slowly over my throat. It wasn't a deep cut, but there was still so much blood - the smell of iron filling the air. I never thought I would remember so much of it. It felt like he had been there for days, but at the same time, it felt like time flew by; it was so surreal…

"I passed out from the blood loss. The last I heard was him telling me that now we would be together forever…ordering me to wait for him in the afterlife. The last thing I felt was his warm breath on my ear and a wet kiss on my cheek."

She looked up at all of them.

"I don't remember anything after that. I was in a coma for about a week, and when I woke up…"

She looked at Sara with a pained expression on her face.

"When I woke up he had been caught." She gestured to the pictures that Nick had lain out on the table for them all to see. "The crime scene pictures and… and the pictures of what he did to my body are there."

Silence.

"How…" Nick interrupted the silence. "How was he caught?"

"He attacked me one night when…" Sara started, but was interrupted by Veronica.

"I need some air right now," She said standing up abruptly. "I'll be back in a minute."

"Fox…" Sara started.

"Alone." She cut in as she left the room.

Sara and Kimberly got up from their seats at the same time.

"I'll go after her, Sara." Kimberly said.

"I don't know if that's a good idea." Sara shot back.

"She's my wife."

"Yeah, and you've been doing so well in the married department lately."

"She's my wife." Kimberly repeated, and left the room after Veronica.

Sara made an attempt at following her, but Catherine stepped between her and the door.

"We need you here on this, Sara. Let them deal with this on their own." She said placing a comforting hand on her arm.

"But…"

"We need you here to tell the rest of the story. I need you on this."

"But…" Sara looked at the door and then at Catherine. "Ok." She sighed, defeated, and started to tell the story of what had happened when Dunne attacked her.

---------

Veronica had reached the lobby when Kimberly caught up with her.

"V, wait up please." She said and reached out and touched her arm.

Veronica was about to say something when she froze in place. There was a group of people going through the lobby towards them, and among them were Governor and Mrs. Lavisham.

"This way..." Kimberly tugged Veronica's arm in an attempt to get her to follow her into a nearby room.

"No," Veronica said wearily. "No, if I have to face the demons of my past, I might as well take them all on at once." She stayed where she was looking straight at her parents.

A tall man rushed past them to greet the Governor.

"Governor Lavisham, sir, I'm Conrad Ecklie, I'm in charge of this lab." He shook the other man's hand. "I assure you that we are doing everything we can to solve this case. I have my best people on it."

"I was looking for Miss Willows. I was hoping she could give me an upda…" He trailed off as he caught a pair of blue eyes, matching those of his wife, staring back at him. He paled visibly…

"An update? Yes, certainly. I will personally go get CSI Willows for you. If you would like to come this way, I will find a room where you can sit down." If there was one thing Ecklie was good at, it was politics.

"Excuse me? Oh, no we will be just fine waiting here for her." He felt his wife's arm stiffen slightly under his, and knew that she had seen their daughter as well.

"Ok, sir, I'll just get Willows." Ecklie scurried off.

"You don't have to do this now." Kimberly grabbed hold of her wife's hand in support.

"Yeah, I do." Veronica squeezed the offered hand, as her eyes locked with her father's. "I can't keep running from my past. After all, I was a daddy's girl once; I would like the chance to be that again." She broke eye contact with her father and looked back at Kim. "You've got my back?"

"Always." She kissed the smaller woman lightly on the cheek.

"Let's get you introduced to the parents then." Veronica squeezed Kim's hand once more, and led her towards the group gathered in the middle of the lobby.

--------

"He was sentenced to 25 to life." Sara was just about to finish the last of what she knew about the case, when Ecklie barged into the room slightly out of breath.

"Catherine, the Governor is waiting for you in the lobby." He informed the blonde.

"The Gov… What?" Sara jumped up from her seat and moved swiftly towards the door and disappeared before Catherine had a chance to react.

"Sara!" The blonde followed her outside. "Sara, don't do anything you'll regret!" She ran after the brunette.

"Catherine?" Conrad followed the two of them. "What is going on here?"


	13. Blackmail

Thank you all for the reviews. They mean a lot to me… I hope you'll review on this chapter as well.

A big thank you to the best beta in the world, Jess. You so make this story better!

**Chapter 13**

**Blackmail**

Coming around the corner, Catherine cursed both her high heels and Sara's longer legs. The pursuit was cut short when she collided with someone; she reached out for the hips on the body in front of her to steady herself, before looking up and realizing that it was Sara she had run into.

"Sara," She said slightly out of breath. "What's going on?" She peeked around the taller woman and saw Veronica and Kimberly walking towards the Governor and his wife.

"She's going to talk to them." Sara stated.

"Maybe it's for the best, Sara," Catherine said gently. "We all need our parents in some way, no matter how old we get."

"Not everybody, Catherine. Not everybody." Sara said quietly. "I'll be right back. I just need to make sure that she's going to be ok - that they're not going to reject her again."

"They won't. He asked for protection for her."

"Well, it's a long way from not wanting her brutally murdered to wanting her in their lives again."

"Sometimes you just have to hope for the best, hon."

"That's a feeling reserved for those who've had good things happen to them in life." Sara said evenly.

Catherine was at a loss for words. Sara sounded so detached, but at the same time so vulnerable, and the blonde didn't know how to address that. She tried to formulate an appropriate sentence, but was interrupted.

"What the hell is going on here?" Conrad Ecklie hissed, coming up to them. "Have you both completely lost your minds? We have the Governor of Nevada in the building and you act like this?"

"Conrad, it's ok. We have everything under control." Catherine tried to reassure the man.

"Under control? Under control! I've said it once and I'll say it again - she's a loose cannon with a gun!" He pointed at Sara. "And I want her off this case!"

Sara looked at both of them hearing those words. She started to say something, but Catherine held up a hand silencing her.

"Sara stays on this case." She told Ecklie assertively. "She has information to solve it, and I take full responsibility."

"I don't care how much responsibility you take, Catherine. This is possibly the biggest case of the year, and I want her off it. That's an order."

"Look, Cath…" Sara started.

"No." Catherine placed her hand on the taller woman's shoulder, silencing her yet again. "Conrad, see that woman over there with the Governor?" She asked, gesturing towards Veronica with her free hand.

"Catherine, no…" Sara started, thinking that Catherine would tell him about Veronica's history.

Catherine squeezed the shoulder her hand was on in reassurance, and continued when Ecklie looked towards the group gathered in the lobby.

"That woman is Veronica Lavisham. She's the oldest daughter of Governor Lavisham and she just happens to be best friends with …" She took the liberty of an artistic dramatic pause, "… our very own Sara Sidle. So, Conrad, do you want to tell the Governor why the friend his daughter speaks so highly of isn't working the case?" She asked.

"That's…why…" Conrad stammered.

"Now, do you still think it's a good idea to take Sara off this case?" Catherine asked sarcastically.

"That's blackmail." Ecklie spluttered, his face getting redder by the minute.

"You've got to work with what you've got, Conrad."

Huffing something unintelligible, Ecklie turned around and stormed off to his office. Catherine watched him disappear before slowly turning towards Sara.

"Now let's get back to work, Sidle."

"Catherine…" Sara started. "You just pissed off the boss – for me." The surprise was evident in her voice.

"Well, he had it coming," Catherine answered casually. "Besides, I don't like people telling me how to run my cases. Come on; let's get back to the guys and Sofia." She turned and started walking back to the conference room.

"But…" Sara started, and looked at Veronica.

"She's a big girl now, Sara. If she needs you, she knows where to find you. The best way for you to help her right now, is to solve this case."

"I guess you're right." She mumbled, not wanting the other woman to hear her actually admit it.

"What was that?" Catherine asked, amused.

"Nothing." Sara followed the other woman down the hall.

-------------

"Veronica." The Governor and his wife had met them halfway through the lobby.

Mrs. Lavisham hesitated for a second before pulling a surprised Veronica into a hug.

"Mom."

When her mother let her go, the Governor took over and gave her a bone-crushing hug.

"Daddy…"

"Oh, thank God," He looked briefly at Kimberly. "I see Miss Willows made sure you are protected."

"What?" Veronica didn't understand.

"I expected uniformed officers to do the job, but a detective will do just fine."

"What?" Veronica asked again. "Kim is not protecting me…"

"She's not? Well, who is then?" Turning to Kimberly, he continued. "I insist that my daughter is protected. I told Miss Willows and now I'm telling you – make sure that it happens!"

"Whoa there! Stop and rewind, please." Veronica had expected to have some sort of control over the situation, but she had no idea what was going on.

"Well Detective, what are you waiting for?" He demanded.

"I'm…" Kimberly started, but was interrupted by a slightly pissed off Veronica.

"She is waiting for me!" She started. "You do not give her any orders concerning me. You lost the right to have any say in my life years ago!" She took a deep breath before continuing. "Furthermore she is not here as a detective right now, she is here as my wife, supporting me. And I wanted to do this civilly, but you just had to let that temper loose again, didn't you!"

"Wife?" Mrs. Lavisham breathed out.

"Yes, Mom, this is my wife, Kimberly Shaw." She turned towards the slightly taller woman behind her, "Kim, these are my parents, Helen and George Lavisham."

Kimberly held out her hand and waited for someone to shake it.

-----------

"Ok guys, what've we got so far?" Catherine asked, walking back into the conference room with Sara in tow.

"Are you done talking to the Governor already?" Warrick asked.

"No, I haven't talked to him yet. He's meeting with his daughter and we thought we should give them a little privacy. What did Doc Robbins say about the body?"

"He's not done with the autopsy yet, but the prelim suggests that the vic died from blood loss from the stab wound to the stomach and the slit throat. There were also evident signs of rape. I did the kit and it's being processed as we speak. Doc said he'd personally deliver the report when he's finished with the autopsy."

"Thanks, Rick." Catherine digested the information he'd given them. "Nick, how did you do?"

"I processed the clothes and found a few fibres and a single hair. I handed the hair over to Wendy in DNA and the fibres are in trace. The shirt wasn't ripped though, so that means…"

"That she was dressed after she was killed." Sara finished his sentence.

"Exactly. We need establish a time line from the time when she went missing, to when she was found in the desert. Maybe we'll find some more witnesses." He suggested.

"Yes, that's a good idea, Nick. Sofia…" Catherine turned towards the Detective.

"I'm on it. I'll be back in a little while." She left the room to give the orders to bring the few witnesses they had in for questioning.

"This all points to a copycat," Catherine concluded. "But we need to cover all our bases. Warrick and Nick, I need you two to cover any other angle to this. Start with Mr. Rowan; see if anyone has a grudge against him big enough to do something like this. If you don't find anything on him, then you move up from there."

"Up?" Nick asked.

"To the Governor," Catherine sighed. "Apparently she was his Goddaughter and also his youngest daughter's best friend. You never know how these sickoes think." She turned to Sara who was leaning against the wall next to the door. "Sara…"

"I'll start reading the diary we found at the house and put the prints through AFIS."

"Yes, thank you."

"No problem."

"And I'll check up on Oscar Charles Dunne. After that I'll sit in with Sofia and Kim on the interviews." She looked at the others. "Well, let's get on with it then."

Just as they were about to break up the meeting, the door opened again, revealing Veronica and Kimberly.

"Foxy," Sara put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Are you ok?"

"Well, I just had a chat with my parents, so…" She didn't finish.

"Yeah, that was really something." Kimberly offered with a smile. "I knew that V has a temper, now I know where she got it from."

"We're not finished," Veronica stated when she noticed everybody ready to leave. "I have the letters."

"I'll call Sofia." Catherine said, getting out her phone and sitting back down.


	14. The Letters

Thank you all for your reviews… Hope you'll review again when you have read this part.

Jess, thank you so much for betaing this for me, you really do make it better – you and the ducks.

Disclaimer: The quotes used in this part are not mine.

**Chapter Fourteen**

**The Letters**

"So, what do we do next?" Kimberly asked as they waited for Sofia to return.

"We'll discuss that later." Catherine answered, looking pointedly at Veronica.

"Right." Kimberly got the message.

"What?" Veronica looked up and met Catherine's eyes. "Oh, right, I'm the witness. You can't discuss this around me. It's been a while since I've been a witness – beats being the victim, though…" She stopped herself before the ramble got out of hand.

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence again.

"Would you like me to wait outside for Detective Curtis?" She asked to no one in particular after a minute. "You can fill in Kim and I can… I can wait…" She got up while still talking and headed for the door.

"You don't have to do that." Sara said, getting up to stop her. As she reached out Veronica held up a hand, stopping her mid-motion. "You don't have to do that, Veronica." Sara told her again, letting her arm fall back to her side.

"I know, I just need…."

"Yeah." Sara went to the door and held it open for her. "Need company?"

"Not right now, no." Veronica smiled and caressed Sara's cheek gently. "Thanks." She whispered before slipping out the door.

Closing the door behind her, Sara turned to face the room again.

"Sara?" Catherine said carefully, needing to make sure that Sara was ok working the case.

"Yeah." Sara locked eyes with the blonde, hoping to convey that although she wasn't fine, she would be more than able to work the case.

Catherine got the message and she was relieved. Not only because she needed Sara on this case, but also because she cared about the younger woman. _'Care? Yeah, sure I care. She's a co-worker, and I care about all my co-workers. Yeah, that's it.'_ She glanced over at Sara. _'Oh, who am I kidding? I care because it's Sara. Sara with the nice hands; Sara with the soulful brown eyes; Sara with the impossibly long legs. Face it Catherine, you're attracted to Sara. Of all the people in the world, you're attracted to Sara Sidle.'_ Shaking her head slightly to rid her thoughts of Sara, she started filling Kimberly in on her plan of action.

------------

Approaching the conference room, Sofia noticed Veronica leaning against the wall. She slowed her pace, trying to figure out why the other woman was standing outside the room alone.

"Hi…" She said as she got into earshot.

"Huh?" Veronica glanced at her with a faraway look. "Sofia, hi…" Her eyes returned to normal. "I was just waiting for you."

"Waiting for me? Are you ok?" Sofia was feeling a little worried. She didn't know the other woman, and didn't know if this was normal behaviour for her.

"I'm ok, I guess. I'm not used to talking about my past, so it just gets a little busy up here." She pointed at her head. "I just needed a little privacy, so I came out here to wait for you while the others fill in Kim on the things she missed when she was with me."

"You picked an interesting place for privacy." Sofia smiled and gestured to the people passing them. "This can be a pretty busy corridor."

"Yeah," Veronica looked around and chuckled a little. "Only place to be sure to catch you, though."

"So, any idea why we're here again? Catherine just told me to get back."

"I have letters from Dunne."

"How romantic…" Sofia wanted to ease off a little of the tension in the other woman, and hoped that she could find a little humour in the statement.

"Yeah, I always want to go straight when I read them." Veronica shot back with a smile.

Sofia smiled back.

"We should get in." She said, opening the door. Veronica nodded and followed her inside.

-----------

"I'm not sure how far back you need to go with these letters." Veronica began. "I mean, in the beginning it's all about me betraying him, me breaking one of God's commandments…" She shuffled through the letters in her hand. "Like this one… he likes to use quotes from various places… I'll just read this part of it for you, ok?" She looked at Catherine for confirmation.

"Sure, you can give us the short version now, but we will need all the letters as evidence." Catherine informed her.

"I know. You can have them – I only kept them in case he should ever get a parole hearing. With these letters, no sane panel would let him out. I'm just sorry that I had to get them out for this."

"You've read all of them?" Sara asked. When Veronica nodded yes, she continued. "Why would you read anything from that son of a bitch? Why not just throw them out?"

"Morbid fascination?" Veronica offered.

"Don't bullshit me, Veronica!"

"I don't know, Sara, I don't know! I need to know… I need to know how the hell he thinks. I need to know how to protect my daughter if he is ever let out again! I need to be able to figure out how he thinks, so I can…"

"Enough!" Catherine raised her voice slightly. "This is not for this meeting. This is between you and Veronica, Sara. I need your focus on this case right now. The victim needs you to focus on this case." She turned her attention to Veronica. "What do the letters say?"

"Sorry, Catherine." Sara murmured.

"Yeah, sorry." Veronica added sheepishly. "Ok, I'll just read the first one, one in the middle and a couple of the last ones. That way you'll get a brief overview." She looked up at Catherine again and when the blonde nodded, she started reading a part of the first letter.

"'_What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate '_

_You have defied the words of our Lord. He led me to you, and you refused Him. I am the saviour He sent to save your soul from the eternal flames of Hell. Never should we be separated, but fear not – I will come for you again and you will be lonely no more. The devil has touched you and separated us in the form of a lowly, foul woman. Why are you so weak? Why can you not resist Satan? You are weak! The Devil has you in her grasp! The Devil must be removed from your life!"_

Veronica couldn't meet Sara's eyes, so instead she focused on Catherine.

"It goes on and on like this. The quote is from the Bible - Mark 10:9." She informed them. "I have no idea why he thinks that we have been joined together by God, but apparently Sara is the Devil incarnated." She took a chance and looked at Sara who had a smile on her face.

"I've been called worse." The brunette quipped.

"Yeah, probably by me." Veronica smiled back. "This next one is written a couple of years later, and it seems that he has had time to change his mind about me. Sara is still not in his good books."

She looked at Sara briefly before starting to read the next letter.

"'_Absence diminishes little passions and increases great ones, as wind extinguishes candles and fans a fire.'_

_I have failed you. I should have been your strength. I should have protected you against the vile creature that is the Devil. Of course the Devil is a woman – strutting around filling your head with impure thoughts. Giving in to her temptations is wrong, my love. Lean on me and I will be your strength – draw it from me. All that is mine is yours, just as all that is you is mine. You are mine. You were made for me. The good Lord made me in His picture and then created you from one of my ribs. You are here for me and me alone."_

She looked back up from the letter.

"From then on it, uh… Well, it rather graphically describes how he will rescue me when we meet again." She moved uncomfortably in her chair. "And believe me when I say that my first encounter with him was a walk in the park compared to what he has planned."

"He thinks _I_ was the one who was a bad influence on _you_?" Sara asked, laughing a little. "Who is he quoting there?"

"The quote is by Francois de La Rochefoucauld, who is… was a classical French author. Basically Dunne is saying that his love for me has grown stronger in the time he has spent in prison, or the time he has been away from me." Veronica looked at her friend. "And are you saying that you didn't enjoy my influence?"

"No, I just don't want to be blamed for it." Sara shot back.

"Why does he use these quotations?" Warrick interrupted.

"I'm not sure." Veronica started. "But my best guess is that it's either because he wants to challenge me somehow, or because they express his feelings for me."

"Challenge you?" Warrick didn't quite understand.

"Yes, he didn't just choose me for my good looks." Veronica stated dryly. "Apparently my intellect turns him on."

"Right." Warrick didn't know how to respond. "It could be a mix of both." He offered.

"Yes." The young woman smiled at him. "It most probably is."

"What does the rest of the letters have to say?" Nick interjected.

"Well…the last couple of letters have been a bit different."

"Different how?" Sofia asked.

"Well, he seems to be more… coherent, I guess." She looked up at them again seeing the frowns on their faces. "Why don't I just read a little more?"

"_He came to me in a dream. He recognized me as His loyal servant. Jesus came to me and said: 'This is my commandment, that ye love one another.' In His strong light your face stood out. He showed me that we belong together. He was sent by our Father to show us that we are indeed right for each other…."_

"You call this more coherent?" Catherine didn't see it.

"No, not this one in particular, but it does mention a friend."

"A friend?" Sara asked, wanting Veronica to elaborate.

"Yes. In the last paragraph, he writes - _'My body may be trapped, but my work will continue. As long as _he_ is with me, my work will continue.'_"

"He? Couldn't he just be talking about God again?" Catherine asked.

"I don't think so. In the other letters, he's always uses a capital 'h' when referring to God. In this instance he doesn't. And whilst Jesus may have spoken to him in a dream, what he actually wrote was a quote from the Bible - John 15:12."

"So, you think he has someone doing his dirty work, because he didn't spell 'he' correctly?" Catherine inquired.

"Well, him making a mistake like that is like Sara being late for work, not drinking coffee, and stopping in the middle of a case just to eat dinner, all in the same day." Veronica clarified.

"Ok, so the guy doesn't misspell anything." Catherine concluded. "But how are you so sure that he has a little helper?"

"Hey!" Sara tried to sound offended.

"Listen to this…" Veronica got another letter out of the stack in front of her.

"'_And I'll still stay, to have thee still forget,_

_Forgetting any other home but this.'_

_The Devil takes on many disguises. First she was a brunette, now she has changed. Blonde does not suit the Devil. The blonde Devil stopped you wearing red for me. The blonde Devil made you cut your lovely hair – be not her slave! Do not let her lure you into her web! Let her not lead you from the path the good Lord has created for us. Do as He ordered and follow me! You are mine! The Devil cannot have you! I will let him follow my words and he will make you understand. Through him you will see the error of you ways. Through him you will come to me again."_

"So the Devil has left Sara and come back as Kimberly? What the hell is this guy thinking?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, apparently I can't have any women in my life unless the Devil has sent them."

"But this definitely suggests that he has a friend on the outside." Nick continued.

"Yes, just wait till you hear the latest one." Veronica took out the last paper in the stack.

"'_With love's light wings did I o'erperch these walls;_

_For stony limits cannot hold love out:_

_And what love can do, that dares love attempt;_

_Therefore thy kinsmen are no let to me.'_

_Through him I see you. Through him I hear you. Through him I smell you. I will always be near you. I will never give up on you. The devil has come close to you yet again. She has taken the form of two, do not let her near you! You bore the Devil's spawn. It is vile and must be destroyed. I will take care of the Devil and her followers, but he will rid the others. It is his call as you are mine. She belongs to him, as you belong to me. The Devil will soon be out of her life!"_

"Devils' spawn?" Sofia started. "Julie?"

"Yes." Veronica nodded.

"I've sent uniforms to my parents' place." Kimberly informed them all.

"Good." Sara sighed, relieved.

"The quotes are…?" Catherine asked.

"Shakespeare," Sara answered. "_Romeo and Juliet_ – the balcony scene."

"The first one is fairly simple; he wants me to forget anyone other than him. The second one is a little harder to figure out." Veronica read the passage again. "Either he is saying that he still loves me, and that Kim and Sara are no threat to him because he can do anything as long as he has love. Or that he is planning to escape from prison, and the guards will be no match to him as long as he has love."

"I think it's the first one." Sara offered. "All the others are about his love for you, why would he change that after all this time?"

"I think so too, Sass. And he wouldn't need another person to keep an eye on me if he could do it himself."

"Right." Catherine said. "You're getting protection."

"I don't think this new guy will do anything to me." Veronica protested.

"You're getting protection." Catherine didn't take no for an answer. "You could be wrong."

"But…" Veronica tried but was interrupted.

"You're getting protection!" Both Sara and Kimberly said at the same time.

"Ok, I guess I'll get protection then." Veronica mumbled, and set the letters down the table.

"Hey, guys." Warrick spoke up, with a slight grin on his face. "Any of you noticed that the guy's initials are OCD?"


	15. Clearing the Air

Thank you all so much for the reviews – I know I keep saying that they mean so much to me, but they really do. I hope you all like this chapter as well… (And review… hint, hint…)

Jess, thank you so much for your work on this – even if it meant that I had to re-write a couple of times… And the ducks have now found me, they were outside my door today when I went out…

**Chapter Fifteen**

**Clearing the Air**

"Sofia," Catherine took command. "You get hold of some uniforms to protect Veronica."

"But…" Kimberly tried to get a word in.

"Sofia, get on it! And give me a call when the witnesses get here."

"Sure." Sofia got up and left the room.

"Guys," Catherine turned to Nick and Warrick. "You go ahead as planned. Report back to me when you find something."

"Sure thing, boss." Warrick said, as they both walked out the door.

"Kimberly, you get Veronica home and make sure the uniforms are in place. Then get back here, and join Sofia in the interview room."

"I…" Kimberly was about to protest, but catching Catherine's glare she thought better of it. "Sure. V…" She motioned for the smaller woman to join her.

"I do know the way to my own house, you know." Veronica told the older blonde.

"Feel free to do the driving, but you're getting an escort." Catherine stated firmly.

"Miss Willows, I'm fully capable of getting home on my own. I've done it for the last four months now, and I will do the same tonight."

"Ok. Shaw, you follow Dr Christiansen home and make sure the uniforms are in place."

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Veronica raised her voice slightly, not believing what she was hearing.

Kimberly and Sara shared a quick glance and decided to intervene, knowing all too well that both women had flaring tempers.

"Look, Catherine…" Sara started, placing a hand on the other woman's shoulder to calm her down.

"V, hon…" Kimberly began with Veronica.

"Hon! Hon? You've got some nerve!" Veronica turned towards the detective and let loose.

"Look…"

"No! You think this makes everything a-ok? You left! You left me, Kimberly! You left me four months ago, and you left me tonight when I had to tell you about the hardest fucking time in my life! When I needed your support the most, you were a fucking coward! So until you get your act together, don't even think about calling me hon!" With that Veronica stormed out of the room, throwing one last remark Kimberly's way. "And don't even consider following me home!"

The three women left behind stood still – shocked. They looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

"That's the temper, I mentioned earlier." Kimberly offered with a weak smile.

"Someone should go after her." Catherine stated, looking towards the door.

"I'll go." Sara answered.

"No, I think I should go." Kimberly countered.

"I'm going." Sara stated, moving towards the door. "I don't want you anywhere near her right now."

"Sara," Catherine stopped the brunette. "I'll go."

"What?" Sara looked at the blonde. "You don't even know her! I should go."

"No, I don't know her – I have no personal relationship with her, and that is exactly why I should go talk to her." Catherine went towards the door. "Shaw, go find Sofia and find a time line for the vic's whereabouts yesterday. Sara, please start on the letters and the diary. We need to get this case moving. I'll join you when I have talked to Veronica. Just focus on the case."

With that, she left the two alone.

---------

Walking down the corridor, Catherine caught sight of Veronica ahead of her and she picked up her pace. Rounding the corner she saw the doctor heading straight towards the Governor and she heard her saying:

"Daddy, Miss Willows seems to think that I need an escort home, can you spare a driver?"

"Sure." The Governor immediately gestured to a man in a suit behind him. "Jones, can you get my daughter home, and stay there to protect her."

The man nodded in confirmation and moved closer to Veronica.

"Dr. Christiansen, Governor Lavisham." Catherine joined them.

"Miss Willows." Veronica turned towards her. "Look, I'm sorry about…"

"Don't worry about it, it's forgotten as far as I'm concerned." Catherine smiled. "Could I talk to you for a minute, though?"

"Sure." She looked at the man her father had ordered to protect her. "Excuse me, Mr. Jones; I'll be right with you."

"Governor Lavisham, I'll be right back to brief you on the case." Catherine told the Governor. "This way, doctor." She said, and led Veronica to a nearby vacant room. Closing the door behind her, Catherine paused for a second before speaking again.

"Look, Dr. Christiansen."

"Veronica."

"Veronica…" Catherine offered one of her trademark smiles. "I'm sorry that this happened to you, but this is a case and I need my people to be at their best…"

"And they're not if I act like I just did." Veronica finished for her.

"Right." Catherine looked the younger woman in the eyes. "I understand how hard it must have been for you to tell us all about your case, but now I need you to step away from it again. Sofia and Kimberly are a team, and if we loose one, we loose the other. We don't have the time to start from scratch on this, so I need for you to take it easy on Kimberly – I don't want her mind to be on you when it should be on the case."

"That's understandable." Veronica answered evenly.

"And Sara… Sara is one of the best investigators in the country. I would like you to let her know that you are ok."

"Why?"

"Why? Because I need for her to stay focused."

"Don't you mean the victim needs her to stay focused?"

"Excuse me?"

"Never mind." Veronica went to the door.

"No, if you have something to say, say it. Let's have this out now."

"Ok." Veronica turned back slowly, thinking. "I don't know what your relationship with Sara is, or even what you want it to be. But don't hurt her in the process of finding out."

"Excuse me? You don't know me…"

"You're right. But I've seen you look at her a couple of times, and I've seen you fight. You two fight like Kimberly and I… Look, Sara is my friend and… I made her a promise once. I broke it the last time I saw her – this time I'll do whatever it takes to keep it."

"So, what are you saying here?" Catherine looked at her daringly. "Give it to me straight."

"If you hurt her, I'll hurt you."

------------

"I guess I'll go find Sofia, then." Kimberly said, and walked towards the door.

"You need to stop hurting her." Sara said calmly while shuffling through a file in front of her.

"Look, Sara, I know you two were friends once, but…"

"We never stopped being friends. And you need to make up your mind. Either you are with her or you leave her."

"This is none of your business, Sidle."

"When you're hurting my friend, you make it my business. Someone needs to set you straight, and since no one seems to have yet, I guess I'm the one to do just that."

"I just need a break to think."

"A four month break? What the hell is wrong with you? You have one of the kindest, most loving…"

"Most scarred…"

"What?"

"Veronica is not the easiest person to live with, Sara."

"I know that. But I also know that she's worth it!"

"Yeah? Where have you been for the last 12 years, then?"

"I…"

"Yeah, looks like I wasn't the only one running."

With that, Kimberly left to find Sofia, leaving Sara alone with her thoughts.

---------

"Are you telling me that Sara would be interested if I wanted something?" Catherine asked.

"I have no idea." Veronica stated. "I just don't want to see her get hurt."

"Ok." Catherine held out her hand. "Deal. I'll be gentle."

Veronica looked at the outstretched hand and then in Catherine's eyes, trying to judge if she was being serious. Seeing nothing but honesty in the other woman's eyes, she shook the offered hand.

"And I'll go find her and tell her that I'm fine."

"Thank you." Catherine opened the door. "I'll go deal with you father."

"He can come on a bit strong… Just let him and then carry on like nothing happened – that's the best way to handle him." Veronica offered.

"That'll make it easier to tell him that I can't tell him anything."

Leaving Veronica behind, Catherine started walking towards the lobby to meet the Governor. She liked the doctor and the way she stood up for Sara, that was the reason she had been so open with her. Catherine didn't know what kind of relationship she wanted with Sara, she just knew that she wanted it to be better than it had been so far. She was attracted to Sara, yes, but would she act on that? She didn't know. Was it more than just attraction? She wasn't sure she wanted to know.

Never doubt, never look back.

That was the way she lived her life. But this time it was different - things would change forever if she pursued a romantic relationship with Sara. This wasn't someone she could just date and unceremoniously dump, this was a co-worker who she would have to work with even if things ended. This was a woman. Hell, she didn't even know if Sara would be interested in such a relationship with her.

Never doubt, never look back.

"Miss Willows."

Catherine shook the Governor's hand.

"Governor Lavisham. I'm sorry that I've kept you waiting. Let's go to my office and talk."

--------

"Sara?" Veronica asked cautiously, knocking on the open door.

"Foxy," Sara looked up from the diary she was reading. "How are you?"

"I'm… I'll be ok." Veronica smiled to her old friend. "I think I just needed to vent. Kimberly was closest."

"Yeah, and the one who had it coming." Sara added.

"Sass…" Veronica sat down next to her friend. "I need you to find this guy."

"I know – and I will." Sara tried to reassure the younger woman.

"What I'm trying to say is, don't worry about me, I'll be fine. When all this is over we'll talk - figure things out."

"Okay…" Sara sounded doubtful.

"I just want this guy behind bars, so please wait with the worrying until he is."

"Ok." Sara smiled. "I'll stop the worrying right this minute."

"Good. I better get going; I have a driver waiting for me."

"A driver?" Sara asked puzzled. "I thought you refused Kimberly taking you home?"

"I may have a temper, but I'm not stupid. If three people in law enforcement tell me that I need protection, I'll get protection. I asked my father for help."

"Your father?" Sara sighed. "Well I guess it's about time he started helping you."

Veronica got up, kissed Sara on the top of the head, and moved towards the door. Just before leaving, she paused and turned back towards Sara, a slight smile on her face.

"Oh, and I can see why you want Catherine – you know, apart from her being hot, blonde and drop dead gorgeous."

With that, Sara was left alone with her thoughts once again.


	16. Working

Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. I hope you'll review on this one as well.

Jess, thank you as always for being my beta… You're the best, even when you threaten me with ducks… That's not nice by the way…

I hope you all enjoy this even if it is a bit short. I'll make up for that in the next chapter.

**Chapter Sixteen**

**Working**

The night turned to morning without the team noticing. All of them were busy working the different angles of the case. Nick and Warrick had checked out every aspect of Mr. Rowan's past and found nothing. Sofia and Kimberly had interviewed all the people who had seen and talked to the victim on the day of her disappearance, and were still busy trying to create a timeline of the whereabouts of Siobhan Rowan the day she died. Catherine and Sara had read through twelve years of letters from Oscar Charles Dunne to Veronica Christiansen, and Siobhan's diary, but found nothing more than they already knew. The diary had no information other than the normal teenage dreaming and drama, so the Dunne theory still fitted. After all, his MO had been to stalk Veronica without her knowing before making his move.

"This guy is completely insane!" Catherine exclaimed, and threw the letter she was holding onto the table.

"I know." Sara chuckled a little.

"Right." Catherine realized who she was talking to. "Sorry about that…"

"No, it's ok." Sara looked up and met Catherine's eyes. "It was a long time ago. And I didn't know about these." She gestured to the letters. "I didn't know that it was this bad."

"You couldn't have known, Sara." Catherine said soothingly.

"I could have if I'd been around for her." Sara answered, the guilt evident in her voice.

Catherine got up from her chair and went over to stand in front of the brunette. She leaned forward and gave a surprised Sara a warm hug.

"We all do what we have to do to survive, Sara." She whispered. "The past is the past. We just have to make do with the present and work hard to make the future better than the past."

"Yeah?" Sara whispered back. "And how do you do that?"

"I'm not sure." Catherine smiled. "But I do know one thing, you never stop trying." She stood back up and straightened her clothes. "We'd better get back to work."

"Yeah," Sara looked up at her. "Thanks."

"I'm gonna go check up on the boys," Catherine said with a smile. "See if they've found anything."

"I'll just finish these." Sara gestured to the few letters that she hadn't read yet and reached out for one of them.

-----------

"Nick!" Catherine spotted Nick in a lab across from the conference room.

"Catherine," Nick looked up from the papers he was reading. "Got anything new?"

"Unfortunately, no." She answered, sitting down in a chair beside him. "I was hoping for good news from you guys." She looked around. "Where's Warrick?"

"He went to get coffee. Sofia and Kimberly have gone out to grab something to eat, but they're close to getting the timeline together." He gestured to the papers in front of him. "The Rowans are squeaky clean. We haven't gone through the information on the Governor yet, but if he's anything like his Chief of Staff, we won't have much luck there either."

"Have we gotten anything on the hair from the vic's clothes yet?" Catherine inquired.

"I just talked to Wendy and she said that it would be a couple of hours before the results are ready."

"Ok." Catherine pushed back her chair and got up. "You go get something to eat too, Nick. I hadn't realized it had gotten so late." She looked down at her watch, which read 11 am. Looking back up, she caught a glimpse of Sara still reading in the conference room.

"How long since she's eaten, you think?" She asked Nick, while tilting her head towards Sara.

"Don't know." Nick answered. "How long since she clocked in?"

"Why don't you take her with you and make sure she gets something to eat?" Catherine suggested.

"Sure." Nick gathered the papers in front of him and placed them in a folder. "This is the information on Mr. and Mrs. Rowan." He explained and gave her the folder. "I'll just grab Sara and my jacket and we'll be back in an hour or so."

"I'll just go and tell Warrick to take an early lunch as well." Catherine went out the door while saying: "We'll meet back in the conference room again at one o'clock. That should be enough time for you to get the report on the hair, and for Rick to read the autopsy."

-------------

"Sara?" Nick poked his head into the room to get her attention.

"Mmmm?" Sara answered, without looking up from the letter she was reading.

"Let's go get some lunch."

"I'm not quite done here. I'll just grab an apple later."

"Come on, Catherine practically ordered us to go get something to eat now, and an apple won't do it. Besides we have a meeting at one, and we all need to be ready for that."

"But…" Sara gestured to the letters.

"We all know what's in those letters. And they'll still be here when we get back."

Sara sighed, but got up anyway.

"You're not gonna give up until I go, are you?" She asked trying to sound defeated, though the truth was that she needed a break - those letters were making her skin crawl.

"Nope." Nick smiled, holding the door open for her. "So where do you want to go?"

"I don't care, as long as they serve vegetarian dishes."

"I knew that."

--------------

Catherine met up with Warrick in the break room.

"Hey Cath." He greeted her.

"Hey Rick."

"Any news?"

"No, not much." She sat down opposite him. "I just sent Nick and Sara to grab a bite, you should do the same."

"Ok." He looked at her. "Hey, are you ok?"

"Yeah," She sighed. "Just got a lot going on right now."

"Biggest case of the year and Lindsey's birthday coming up," He smiled. "That would make anyone stressed."

"If only that was all of it." Catherine muttered under her breath. Out loud she said, "You better go, maybe you can catch Tina and have lunch with her."

"Actually, Tina has plans with her mother today." Warrick replied, getting up and throwing his empty cup in the garbage. "So you're in luck – I'm free to have lunch with you." He joked.

"I'll just get something from the vending machine. I still have a couple of calls to make." Catherine answered, brushing him off.

"If we leave to eat – you leave to eat." He put his arm around her and dragged her with him. "So where do you want to go?"

"Rick, I really have to make those calls." Catherine tried to protest.

"You can make your calls in the car on the way to the restaurant. Go get your purse and I'll meet you by the car." He said and pushed her gently towards the locker room. "Besides, it's been ages since we had lunch. We have some catching up to do."


	17. Eating and Talking

Thank you all for the reviews. I almost have 100 reviews, that's so great! Yay! Thank you for that.

Jess, thank you for being my almighty beta. Thanks for making the decisions I can't make myself.

I had so much fun writing this chapter, so I really hope you all like it. Hope you will review and tell me what you think of it and if you had fun reading it… Enjoy…

**Chapter seventeen**

**Eating and Talking**

"Aren't you glad that you're out of the lab now?" Nick asked with a grin, pointing at Sara's coffee cup. "That's gotta be better than the slush we have back there."

"I guess it isn't all that bad." Sara smiled.

"So… you wanna talk about it?" He asked gently when she didn't say anything more.

"Talk about what?"

"It must have been hard for you back then. How old were you?"

"It… Look, I'm not really that comfortable talking about it."

"Ok, I respect that." Nick paused for a moment. "But… Have you ever talked to anyone about it?"

"I've talked to Veronica."

"And you haven't seen her in over ten years." Nick reached out and squeezed her hand. "It's not healthy to keep everything bottled up, Sara. If you ever want to talk about it – about anything – you know where to find me. I can keep a secret."

"Thanks Nick." Sara smiled, staring intently into her coffee cup.

--------------

"So, what's new with you?" Warrick asked after they had placed their orders. "Got a new guy?"

"Hah." Catherine almost choked on the water she was drinking. "No… No, you can't really say that I do."

"So what other than the case and Lindsey's birthday has you stressed out?" He asked with a smile.

"You heard that, huh?" Catherine stalled.

"Yeah, I heard that." Warrick grinned.

"You weren't supposed to hear that."

"I know… but I did, so spill."

"I uhm… I have been realizing lately that uh… Well, I'm attracted to someone."

"That doesn't usually stress you out. What's the problem?"

"Well… I'm not sure that I'm comfortable talking about it."

"Come on! What… It's someone younger than you?" He asked, trying to figure out the problem.

"Well, yeah…" Catherine said laughing. "But that's not really the main problem… But now you mention it, that might be a problem." She finished with a frown.

"Ok… Well, some young stud will keep you on your toes. I don't see the big deal."

Catherine laughed at his words. She could just imagine the scowl on Sara's face if she was called a 'young stud'. She looked over at Warrick, who was clueless as to what she was laughing about.

"Ok, look…" She leaned forward slightly and Warrick mirrored the pose. "This does not get further than here, got it?"

"Of course."

"I must have gone completely crazy." Catherine whispered shaking her head. "Promise you won't laugh."

"I promise… Just tell me already." Warrick whispered back.

-----------------

After sitting in silence for about five minutes, Sara started talking.

"I was 21 when it happened."

"That's pretty young."

"Yeah… But not as young as Veronica. And he didn't hurt me nearly as bad." She said, still staring into her coffee.

"You shouldn't compare the two of you." Nick started. "What happened to her was very traumatic. But what happened to you was as well. It doesn't matter that you know that someone has had it worse than you, you still hurt the same. Believe me, I know."

"Yeah, that's what Foxy used to say. Are you talking to anyone about what happened to you?"

"Yes, I have a therapist. But let's talk about me next time we have breakfast together, and just deal with you on this one. What do you say?" He offered with a sympathetic smile.

"I'm not so good at that." Sara said and looked up, meeting his eyes for the first time. "Talking about me, I mean."

"It's not that hard once you get started really. I had a little trouble talking to my therapist at first too."

"But you're not my therapist…" Sara started.

"No, I'm a friend who cares about you."

"Ok." Sara took a deep breath and started talking while looking around the diner. "The injuries weren't that bad really - a concussion, a broken arm and a couple of fractured ribs. The thing that really hurt was the fact that he had been able to find me so easily. That I never noticed him following me."

"How do you know that he was following you?"

"He must have… Veronica was… It happened in the room we shared, so they had moved me to a new room. I didn't really talk to a lot of people other than Foxy, so he couldn't have gotten the address from any friends."

"It must have scared you, though."

"Yes, it did. But I've gotten past that. You can get used to a lot of things."

"What do you mean, you can get used to a lot of things?"

"I don't think we've got enough time for that story now." Sara said with a small smile. "But I got over this attack."

"So you're perfectly ok with everything now?" Nick asked, sounding doubtful.

"No, of course I'm not. I'm still mad as hell, but I don't let it eat me up anymore. This was done to me by a guy who is absolutely sick, and now he's in jail. There's nothing more that can be done. I only blame myself for loosing the best friend I have ever had."

"Veronica?"

"Yes. I ran away from her as fast as I could. I couldn't handle seeing her so defeated - so lost and closed off. She was the most open person I'd ever met, and all that was lost in what seemed like a second."

"But Veronica seems to have forgiven you. Maybe you haven't lost her. Maybe you just went your separate ways for a while and now you're meeting back up."

"Maybe." She answered. "But how can she forgive me, when I can't even forgive myself."

"Well, that's what friends do, Sara. They forgive each other."

Their food arrived and they started eating in silence until Nick interrupted it.

"So, you didn't have many friends in college?" He asked, wanting to know more about her.

"No, I didn't. I still don't."

"You do. You just don't realize it." Nick told her honestly.

--------------------

"Ok, it's someone we work with." Catherine told him.

"What?" Warrick nearly shouted.

"Shhh…" Catherine shushed him. "Keep it down."

"Sorry." Warrick lowered his voice. "Someone younger that we work with…" He thought out loud. "Well, it's not Nick, because he would have told me something. Grissom is older, so are Brass and Doc Robbins. Greg would never be able to keep his mouth shut if it was him…"

Catherine smiled over the rim of her glass, thinking that he would never guess who it was.

"That leaves…" Warrick frowned. "Hodges?" He asked disbelievingly.

Catherine spat out the sip of water she had just taken and started coughing violently. Warrick dried his face and went over beside her to make sure that she was alright.

"God, Rick." Catherine managed to get out between coughs. "Trying to kill me here?"

"Sorry, it was the only one who fitted the description." Warrick tried to defend himself when Catherine had gotten herself under control, and he went back to his own seat. "Unless," He added. "It's Bobby?"

"No, not Bobby," Catherine shook her head. "And definitely not Hodges!" She said forcefully.

"Well, I can't really think of anyone else. I mean, I'm relieved that it's not Hodges." He said with a grin. "The only thing that would surprise me more would be if it was Sara." He laughed. "But you're not…."

He stopped mid sentence when he looked over at Catherine, who was looking intently at the table and fiddling with her napkin. He leaned back in over the table and whispered:

"It's Sara?"

Catherine looked up and met his eyes – the surprise clearly written in them.

"Yes, it's Sara." She whispered back.

"Wow." Warrick leaned back and looked at her. "Wow…"

"You already said that." Catherine stated.

"And it's such a small word for that kind of news." Warrick wasn't even sure that he had heard her right. "You mean, you… Wow." He shook his head and started laughing.

"Rick, you promised not to laugh." Catherine tried to sound mad, but she couldn't help the smile that formed on her lips.

"Here's your food." The waitress sat their plates down in front of them. "Enjoy."

-----------------

"What do you mean, I don't realize it?" Sara asked curiously.

"Well, I'm your friend, but you didn't seem to know that. Hell, the entire nightshift are your friends – or they would be if you let them."

"The entire nightshift? Yeah, right…" Sara didn't believe him.

"Yeah right." Nick said seriously. "Well, maybe Greg wants to be a little more than friends, but we all care a lot about you."

"I'm sorry for Greg, but that's never gonna happen." Sara informed him, ignoring his second statement.

"Really?" Nick asked playfully. "Have someone else in mind?"

"That, Nick, is none of your business." Sara shot back smiling. She liked this talking thing more than she'd thought.

"Oh come on, Sara. It's not like I don't already know who you have in mind; I just want you to actually say it."

Sara froze.

How could he know? She thought that she had hidden her feelings for Catherine so well.

"What do you mean you already know?"

"The entire office knows, Sara."

"The entire office?" Sara squeaked. "How can the entire office know? I haven't been that obvious, have I?"

"Just a little. But as a friend I have to tell you - I think you should just give up on him. Nothing is going to happen there." He offered sympathetically.

Sara leaned back in her chair defeated. She already knew that nothing was going to happen, but it was different when someone else told her out loud. Suddenly she straightened up as a word from Nick's sentence registered with her.

"Him?"

"Yeah, Grissom. I think he cares for you, but he'll never allow anything to happen between the two of you. You'd save yourself a lot of heartache if you just try to give up on him."

Sara leaned back in the chair again laughing. She was relieved that people still thought she had a thing for Grissom. At least that was better than everybody knowing that she had feelings for Catherine.

"What's so funny?" Nick wanted to know.

"Oh… That's hard to explain."

"Try. You've got me all curious."

"It's just that it isn't Grissom. It was for a short while, but then I came to my senses. That's all."

"Ok… Good for you." Nick paused thinking before adding: "Then why were you so worried that the entire office know who you have your eyes on?"

"Uh..." Sara struggled, internally cursing the fact that she was eating with an investigator. "I like my privacy?" She tried uncertainly.

"I know you do, but why would you care about what people at the lab think, unless…" Nick's face lit up. "…it's someone else at the lab?"

Sara felt the warm spread on her face and knew that she was blushing - busted! There was no way she'd get out of this one without telling Nick.

"It's someone at the lab!" Nick felt almost giddy. "Spill! Who is it?"

"Uh…" Sara was feeling very eloquent.

"Wait, let me guess… You've said that it's not Greg or Grissom. That leaves Warrick, Brass, Doc, Bobby and uh… Hodges." He looked at her worriedly. "Please tell me it's not Hodges." He said with a frown.

"It's definitely not Hodges." Sara laughed.

"Good!" Nick sighed. "Ok, that leaves four. Doc's married, so we'll drop that theory as well. Brass is… well, Brass. Bobby? I'm not feeling it. Is it Warrick? I mean, he's married as well, but it's still my best bet."

"I hope you haven't put money on that." Sara said. "It's not Warrick… Or Brass, or Bobby, or Doc Robbins either."

"Who is it then? I can't think of others." Nick asked confused, he had been sure that he had guessed correct.

"You're my friend?" Sara asked.

"Yes." Nick said strongly.

"And you can keep a secret?"

"Definitely."

"Good, because you really can't tell anyone about this."

"I promise. Just tell me already."

"It's…" Sara paused, wondering what the hell she had gotten herself into. "It's Catherine."

-----------------------

"Wow." Warrick stated again.

"Ok, I think we have established that you're surprised now." Catherine answered in response.

"Well, yeah!" Warrick chuckled. "I never in a million years saw that one coming. But it's a good surprised, I just never…"

"… Saw that one coming." Catherine finished for him. "You said that."

"What are you going to do about it?" He asked curiously.

"I don't know." She sighed.

"You don't know? That's new."

"Not when it comes to Sara Sidle."

"You're right on that one." He started chuckling again. "I can't believe this."

"I am never telling you anything again." Catherine mock threatened.

"I say go for it." Warrick shot back.

"Warrick, this is a female colleague we're talking about me making a move on here. I think that needs a little consideration, don't you?"

"I don't know… What's the worst that could happen? The two of you go back to biting each others heads off?"

"I think a sexual harassment suit would qualify as the worst that could happen."

"Sara would never do that."

"And how exactly do you know that, Rick?" Catherine asked playfully.

"She just doesn't seem the type to… Oh no! No, no, no, I don't know because I… I never…." Warrick suddenly realized what she was suggesting.

"Oh relax, I know you've never had a thing for Sara." Catherine laughed.

"Good. So are you going to go for it?"

"I'll think about it." Catherine answered as she finished the last bite of her food.

------------------

"Catherine?" Nick asked not quite sure that he had heard her correctly. "Catherine Willows?"

"Yes, the one and only." Sara answered, looking down at her now empty coffee mug.

"So, you're gay?" He asked for clarification.

"Not really."

"Bi?"

"Yes."

"Ok." Nick smiled, finally he was getting to know Sara. "So, does Catherine know about this?"

"Are you crazy?" Sara exclaimed. "She'd slap me with a harassment suit faster than you can say 'Sara you're fired'."

"Nah, Catherine wouldn't do that." Nick defended the blonde.

"You're ok with this?" Sara asked to make sure.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"I just told you about my crush on our female colleague."

"Well, she is a hot female colleague…" Nick stopped when Sara slapped his arm. "Ok, sorry! But what are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing!"

"Why not? I say go for it… Wait." He held up a hand when he saw Sara was about to interrupt him. "It's just, Catherine never stops surprising me, so you never know. At least think about it?"

Sara sighed.

"You are so wrong, Nick. Even if she hypothetically would be interested in a woman, there's no way she'd be interested in me."

"Not interested in a gorgeous, smart, intelligent woman with a big heart hidden underneath those walls she's built up? Why wouldn't she be interested in that?"

Sara blushed for the second time in an hour.

"Ok, I'll think about it." She muttered.


	18. Nick Superglue Stokes

Thank you all so much for the reviews on chapter 17… I'm so happy you like it. Hope you like this next one as well… Please review – I'll take both good and bad feedback…

Jess, thank you, thank you, thank you… I'm running out of ways to thank you, but you know how much I love that you are my beta.

**Chapter Eighteen**

**Nick Superglue Stokes**

Arriving back at the lab, Nick and Sara went their separate ways - Nick to see Wendy about the DNA results, and Sara to read through the rest of the letters.

"Gotta say, Sara, I never knew you had such great taste." Nick said with a wink as he dashed off, leaving Sara staring at his back with a big smile on her face.

"Great taste in what?"

The smile was soon replaced with a deer caught in the headlights look as she heard Catherine asking the question. _'I'm gonna kill him! And I would get away with it too!'_

"Uh… food." She answered as she turned towards the older woman.

"Food?" Catherine asked, confused.

"Yeah, we've been out for lunch." Sara told her. "Nick told me that you practically ordered him to take me out to eat."

"Yes, yes I did." Catherine answered with a smile. "You need a little meat on your bones." She added, patting Sara gently on the stomach.

Sara looked down at the hand, then back up at a smiling Catherine.

"Uh…" The brunette was at a loss for words.

Catherine sensed the confusion in Sara's voice and suddenly realized where she had placed her hand. _'Shit! Dammit Warrick, getting ideas in my head."_ She tried to casually remove it while saying:

"I better go phone Lindsey. I promised her that I would call to hear how her test went yesterday."

"Yeah," Sara was still confused. "I'll just finish those letters."

"Good." Catherine looked at her once more. "We have a meeting at 1."

"Nick told me." The conversation was getting awkward and neither knew what else to say.

"Ladies." Warrick interrupted the growing silence between them with his greeting.

"Warrick." With the relief evident in her voice, Catherine turned towards him.

"Got the autopsy report from Doc," Warrick informed them. "Haven't read it through yet, I was just going to go to the conference room to do that." He looked at the two women and saw the awkwardness between them. "What are you doing?" He asked with a smile.

"We were just…" Sara started.

"… Updating each other." Catherine finished.

"So, I'll just go finish those letters." Sara said, turning to go towards the conference room.

"And I have that Lindsey call to make." Catherine turned towards her office. "And we'll just meet up at 1." She threw over her shoulder as she walked down the corridor.

"Yeah." Sara answered, looking back at her to catch one last glimpse of the perfect sized round… Door! She really needed to stop almost walking into doors while checking out Catherine's butt.

"Did you have a nice lunch with Nick?" Warrick asked as he followed her into the conference room.

"Yes." Sara answered shortly, picking up a letter and getting back into work mode – they had a case to solve after all. She would have to think about Catherine later.

"We did too." Warrick told her as he sat down opening the folder in his hand. "You and Catherine seem to be getting along better." He added casually.

"Yeah," Sara looked up at him. "We do. Not really sure how that happened."

"Me neither." He said, thinking that mentioning the bet he sort of made with Catherine during their breakfast at Foxy wouldn't be a good idea. "But it's good though, right?" He pushed, fishing for any sort of indication that Catherine's feelings were reciprocated.

"Beats biting each other's heads off." Sara answered with a deliberate noncommittal shrug.

"Yeah." Warrick looked closely at her, trying to read her body language but with no success. "Well, we'd better get on with it."

"Yeah." Sara mumbled, already reading the letter she was holding.

------------------

After having spent the last ten minutes talking to Lindsey about plans for her birthday, Catherine prepared herself for the call she really didn't want to make. She knew that she should have made it sooner, but now that she knew what had happened to Sara, she didn't want to be the one who would possibly have to tell the brunette that her attacker had escaped from prison. Just as she reached out for the phone a voice interrupted her.

"Catherine," Nick knocked on the open door. "Am I disturbing you?"

"No, Nick." Catherine sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "What's up?"

"I thought you might want to hear this before the meeting."

"Hear what, Nick?" She asked, wanting him to get to the point so she could get the call over with.

"Wendy just finished processing the hair from the vic." Nick said, and handed her a piece of paper.

She looked at the report before looking back up at him.

"This is not good, Nick." She said as she got up from her chair and went for the door. "Where's Sara?" She asked urgently.

"Conference room, I think." He said and followed her as she went towards the room.

"You have your gun with you?"

"Yes."

"Good." She stopped across from the conference room. "You get in there, and you stick to her like glue."

"Sure." Nick said, but apparently not forcefully enough for the blonde.

"I mean it, Nick. Even if you have to follow her into the bathroom, you do it. You got me? If this guy is on the loose there's no way of telling where the hell he could be, and we know he has it in for Sara. Like glue Nick!"

"My new name is 'Nick Superglue Stokes'," Nick said, and walked into the conference room.

Catherine looked at the piece of paper in her hand again, as if the information on it might have changed in the two minutes it had been since she'd last looked at it. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair again. This was the worst possible news she could have gotten. She cast one last glance towards the conference room and went to see Wendy about a DNA result.

"Wendy."

"Catherine." Wendy looked up from the paper she was looking at.

"Are you absolutely sure about this result?" Catherine asked the lab tech, and showed her the report.

"Yes. I just finished going over all the steps I took, and it's definitely a match to Mr. O.C.D." Wendy confirmed.

"Crap." Catherine sighed. "Ok, thanks Wendy." She said and walked back to her office.

---------------

"What the hell are you doing in here, Nick?" Sara shouted when she realized that Nick had followed her into the bathroom. "This is the women's bathroom! Get out!"

"Sorry, Sara." Nick was just as embarrassed as Sara was. "I promise I won't look or listen or anything, but I promised to stay close to you."

"What the hell are you talking about? Get out!"

"No." Nick stayed firmly where he was - arms crossed over his chest and determined not to move an inch.

"Nick!"

"Nope, sorry." He shook his head.

"Who did you promise to stay close to me?" Sara demanded to know.

"I can't…"

"Oh, yes you can. Tell me right now, Stokes!"

"Sara, please…" Nick tried.

"Now!"

"Catherine." Nick told her.

"Catherine?" Sara asked. "Why the hell would she tell you to follow me into the bathroom?"

"I don't think I should be the one to tell you that. Just go do your business and we can get on with this." He said waving his hand towards the stalls.

"I am not doing anything with you standing in here." Sara said, storming out the door with Nick hot on her heels.

------------------

Just as Catherine was about to reach for the phone again, Sara came rushing into the office with Nick following right behind her.

"Why on earth would you tell Nick to follow me into the bathroom?" Sara demanded to know.

"We got the DNA results." Catherine told her.

"What?" Sara didn't see the connection between her question and Catherine's answer.

"Nick, go get a cup of coffee or something." Catherine told the Texan, who left them alone.

"Why did you tell him to…"

"Wendy found a match on the hair." Catherine interrupted. "It's Dunne's hair."

"Oh." Sara's anger deflated and she sat down in the chair in front of Catherine's desk. "Positive match?"

"Yes." Catherine nodded. "Just got back from checking with Wendy."

"So, he's on the loose?"

"I was just about to call and find out."

"Ok." Sara looked up at her. "You mind if I stay here for that?"

"No." Catherine sighed, and reached for the phone.


	19. Fighting

Thank you for the reviews – I love them… I would love reviews on this one as well…

Jess, thank you again for betaing this for me – even with a computer drama on your hands… Hope it is all better…

**Chapter Nineteen**

**Fighting**

"Ok…" Catherine paused and listened to the person on the other end of the line. "Yes, well thank you very much for your co-operation. Any chance we could get the visitor log without a warrant?" She listened again. "No, didn't think so, but it was worth a try. We'll get the warrant as soon as possible. Thank you. Bye." She hung up the phone again and looked at Sara.

"So, he's still in jail?" The brunette asked.

"Yes, he's still in jail." Catherine confirmed. "He's in the Nevada State Penitentiary."

"We already got that from the post stamps on the letters."

"Yes."

"So how did his hair end up outside the walls?" Sara wondered.

"His puppet put it there." Catherine stated. "We'll get a warrant for the visitor log and get our list of suspects from there."

"Yeah." Sara sighed. "This case won't be over any time soon, will it?"

"I'm afraid not." Catherine sighed and leaned back in her chair. "And it couldn't have happened at a worse time."

"It shouldn't have happened at all." Sara said before remembering. "Oh, Lindsey's birthday… You have to plan Lindsey's birthday."

"Yeah," Catherine ran a hand through her already ruffled hair, "I'm afraid I'll have to get Nancy to do most of that. This case is going to take up almost all of my time."

"Anything I can do to help?" Sara offered, the words out of her mouth before she knew she'd said them.

Catherine looked at her in surprise. The brunette had not spent much time with Lindsey and she was surprised that Sara would offer her help.

"I don't know. I haven't really gotten anything planned yet."

"You said she didn't want anything big?"

"Yeah, that's what she told me the other day." Catherine smiled. "She's growing up so fast."

"Not too fast I hope." Sara whispered to herself.

"What do you mean by that?" Catherine had heard what she had said.

"Nothing..." Sara looked intently at the seriously ugly ducks sitting on the desk between them, not wanting to meet Catherine's eyes.

"Sara?"

"I just think that kids should have time to be kids and not grow up too fast."

"I agree." Catherine told the brunette, who looked up in surprise. "Don't look so surprised. I grew up way too fast and look what happened to me." She added.

"Uhm…" Sara didn't know how to respond.

"You can say it," Catherine shrugged. "A stripper and an addict with a loser husband."

"Who was strong enough to turn her life around, get a different career, be damn good at what she does and raise a beautiful daughter." Sara added quietly.

"Thanks." Catherine felt the honesty in the compliment. "So what made you grow up too fast?" She asked softly.

"Oh," Sara let out a dry laugh. "I don't think we have the time or energy for that part of my life. Right now I need all my energy just to cope with my college years."

"But you'll tell me later?" Catherine asked.

"I don't know." Sara said honestly. "We're not exactly…"

"Friends… Yeah, so you keep telling me." Catherine sighed. "But that doesn't mean I don't care."

Sara looked back at the ducks, Nick's words running through her head - _'It's just, Catherine never stops surprising me, so you never know'_ - But she dismissed the thought as soon as it surfaced. Catherine couldn't possibly be interested in her.

"Are we absolutely sure that it is Dunne in that jail?" She asked, wanting to change the subject.

"What do you mean?" Catherine wasn't sure what she was getting at.

"Well, are we sure that he didn't pull a switch?"

"No." Catherine shook her head. "But that would be a little farfetched."

"You read those letters, Catherine. Dunne may be delusional but he is far from stupid. His IQ is up there with the best of them."

"Yeah, but a switch? He couldn't have pulled that off without inside help."

"I wouldn't rule that out as a possibility." Sara said seriously. "We need to go talk to him."

"We as in not you."

"I'm the only one who will know for sure that it's him."

"You are also a victim when it comes to him. You are not going! I'll take Nick with me."

"I am going, Catherine!" They were both getting louder.

"You are not going anywhere near that man, Sara!"

"I am! But you're not!"

"What!" Catherine asked, getting up from her chair and leaning over the desk towards Sara. "I am senior on this case and I call the shots!"

"I don't want you anywhere near that sick son of a bitch!" Sara argued, getting up from her own chair and leaning over the desk from the other side – their faces only inches apart.

"You don't have a say in that!"

"The minute you get in that room with him, the second you even hint that you know me, he will pick you as his next victim, and I don't want you to get hurt!"

"What!" The words registered with Catherine. "What?" She added in a much softer tone.

"Yeah, believe it or not I care about you too, Catherine. I don't want you to get hurt. You have a daughter to finish raising. I have nothing. Let me go in there with him."

"Sara..." Catherine breathed out, looking her softly in the eyes. "I…" She was at a loss for words.

They just stood there, getting lost in each other's eyes. Catherine leant closer to the brunette, her eyes leaving Sara's to look down at the younger woman's lips…

"Catherine, Sara. Is everything alright in here?" Grissom asked, poking his head in the door. "You were getting rather loud."

Cursing the man with every fibre of her being, Catherine quickly stood up straight.

"Yes, Gil. We're fine." She said shortly, watching Sara sit back down. "What are you doing here at this time of day?"

"I have an experiment."

Sara, who was sitting with her back to him, cringed at his words, remembering the pig experiment. Catherine smiled at the face the younger was sporting.

"How is your case going?" Grissom asked, not noticing Catherine's smile.

"It's going," Catherine told the supervisor. "But it's going slow. We don't have much to go on."

"Ok." He said absentmindedly. "If you need help you know where to find me."

"In a lab with your bug experiment." Catherine joked and earned a smirk from Grissom. "Thanks." She added more seriously.

"Good luck with it." He said, and disappeared down the hall.

"Look, Sara…" Catherine started as soon as Grissom was out of sight.

"We should get to the meeting." Sara interrupted her. "We have a case to solve." She got up from her chair again and walked out the door, leaving Catherine alone in the office with the ducks.

--------------------

Joining the others in the conference room, Catherine got right down to business.

"Warrick, autopsy?"

"Same MO as in Veronica's case. COD was a stab wound to the stomach and a slit throat, both causing the victim to bleed out slowly. Definite signs of rape, possibly multiple times. No trace material found on the body other than what we got running a rape kit."

"Do we have the results on that?" Catherine asked.

"We found pubic hairs, but we haven't found a match so far." Warrick informed them.

"Ok. Sofia, do we have a timeline for the vic?"

"Yes. The victim was reported missing Saturday afternoon, but a screw up somewhere meant we didn't get the call until Saturday night, which was when she was found. The reason she wasn't reported missing sooner was because the parents thought she was at a friend's house for a sleepover from Thursday to Friday, and the friend thought she had forgotten about it and was home."

"That still leaves a day." Sara interjected.

"Yes, but apparently she wasn't good at telling her parents where she was at. They assumed she was still at the friend's house, until the friend called telling them that she wasn't."

"Have you found out when she went missing?" Catherine asked.

"As far as we can figure out," Sofia looked at her papers, "he took her late Thursday afternoon. The last person to see her was a janitor at her school, who saw her leave in her car at 4 pm. Apparently she was working on a paper and had to use books in the library."

"He got her as she was coming home from the library?" Sara asked even though she didn't really want to hear the answer.

"Yes." Kimberly spoke up. "She spent a lot of time at the library apparently. A real book worm."

"Ok," Catherine sighed. "We can't keep treating these like coincidences. We got the result back on the hair, and it belongs to Dunne. I checked up on him and he is still in jail." She looked up at them. "We have a copycat and we need to find him."

"We need to talk to Dunne." Sofia stated.

"Yes, but I think we need to call Brass in on this one." Catherine held up a hand stopping Sofia as she was about to interrupt. "It's not that I don't trust you to do the job. I've read the letters he has written, and I doubt he will talk to any woman…"

"Except Veronica." Kimberly finished.

"Except Veronica," Catherine agreed. "But she is not going anywhere near him and neither are you. You are too close to this to keep a level head."

"I know, and I don't want to be anywhere near him." Kimberly informed them.

"And you're not going either, Sofia." Catherine told the other blonde.

"But…"

"Sara thinks, and I agree, that any woman getting close to Dunne will be in danger of being the next victim. Just the indication that you are close to either Sara or Veronica may set him off." Catherine continued, not letting the detective interrupt. "I'm not going either."

"Ok. I'll call Brass and get him up to speed." Sofia said.

"Good, thank you." Catherine turned to the Texan. "Nick, I want you to go with Brass."

"Sure." Nick said.

"If you're not up to it…"

"No, I'll do it." Nick stopped her. "Not a problem as long as you don't ask me to be superglue again." He added with a grin, wanting to relieve the tension a little, and earning a small smile back from the blonde.

"Catherine…" Sara started.

"Sara, we'll talk about this alone later." Catherine brushed her off. "Sofia, you go call Brass. Kimberly, you go get a warrant for the visitor log concerning him. Nick, you call and set up the interview. Warrick, you go check up on the guards in the jail."

"The guards?" Warrick asked.

"Yes, we have to look at all possibilities and he could have help on the inside."

"And what should I do?" Sara asked sarcastically.

"You follow me to my office to finish the talk we started." Catherine answered coolly. "Ok, guys let's get on with it." She said, gathering all the folders they had given her.

The others left one by one to do as they had been told; soon only Sara and Catherine were left in the room.

"I still…" Sara started.

"Get to my office!" Catherine cut her off and left the room, leaving the brunette no other option but to follow her.


	20. In the Office

Thank you all so much for the reviews, I hope you will like this next part as well…

Lady J, again thank you for betaing this… Especially since this was the sneakily revised chapter…

**Chapter Twenty**

**In the Office**

'_What happened at my office? I almost kissed her, that's what happened. If it hadn't been for the goddamn bad timing of Grissom, I would have kissed her. God Gil, I could just kill you right now! Maybe I could get Warrick to help me cover up. Who would suspect me anyway? Does she know that I almost kissed her? Did she feel it too? The moment felt so right, it felt like she wanted it too.'_ Catherine was lost in thought on the way to her office. _'I have got to talk her out of going to that interview. She'll get hurt no matter what she says and I don't want her to get hurt. God, this is more than a mere attraction, this is wanting more than just a one night stand. Can this week get any better? I catch the case from hell, I can't plan Lindsey's birthday properly and I realize that I have feelings for Sara Sidle.'_

'_I'm going to be at that prison no matter what she says. I need to know whether or not it is him. How could she ever understand how much I need to know for sure that the bastard is locked up? And I will not let her near him either, he cannot get his eyes on her. She deserves to have a problem free life and she'll never get that if he is ever let loose.' _Sara stopped dead in her tracks as it hit her. _'She almost kissed me! She was about to kiss me when Grissom interrupted us! Maybe Nick will help me cover up if I kill him… Maybe Catherine would help me – she was about to kiss me after all… Wasn't she? I didn't make it up, did I? No… But why would she kiss me?'_

Arriving at her office Catherine closed the door behind Sara. Opting against sitting behind the desk, she went for the couch instead.

"Sit down." She said, patting the spot next to her. "We have to talk this through."

"I'm going with Nick and Brass." Sara said, sitting down next to her.

"I don't want you to go." Catherine countered.

"What?"

"This guy attacked you and is obsessed with your friend."

"I know that, Catherine. I was there."

"So why would you want to be anywhere near him again? You'll end up hurt, Sara."

"I need to know that he can't hurt her or anyone else I care about again. I need to know that he is where he is supposed to be."

"You can have Nick tell you that."

"Nick won't know for sure that it's Dunne."

"He can take a picture, that way you'll know."

"I won't, Cath. I need this – I need to know for sure." Sara said, looking the blonde in the eyes. "I need to know that the people I care for are safe."

"Ok." Catherine didn't want to agree to what the younger woman was saying, but couldn't get herself to say no again. She thought about it for a moment. "But I get to be right next to you and…" She held up a hand to stop the oncoming protest. "And you will stay behind the two way mirror and not even think about getting into the room with him. Do we have a deal?" She held out her hand.

Sara thought about it. She didn't want Catherine within ten miles of Charles Dunne, but she doubted that the blonde would let her go without her.

"Deal." She shook the offered the hand.

"Good." Catherine couldn't help herself. She tugged at Sara's hand causing the brunette to fall lightly into her body. She put her arms around the surprised woman and hugged her tightly. "I don't want to see you hurt anymore, Sara."

Sara didn't answer but relaxed into the hug, enjoying the feeling of comfort Catherine was offering.

"Catherine?" She said, breaking the moment.

"Yes."

"When Grissom interrupted us before…" She stopped.

Catherine broke the hug and leaned back to look her in the eyes.

"Yes?"

"Were you… I mean, I could be completely wrong here, but I had this feeling that you were about to…" She stopped, suddenly loosing her nerve.

"About to what?" Catherine pushed, needing for Sara to actually say the words.

"No, never mind." Sara mumbled and looked down at her hands.

"About to what, Sara?" Catherine repeated gently, placing a hand under Sara's chin, forcing her to look at the older woman.

"About to… kiss me." Sara finally got out.

"I…" Catherine didn't get any further before Sara shot up from the couch and interrupted her.

"Look, never mind. It was a stupid question anyway. Just wishful thinking on my part." She started pacing the office.

"Sara…" Catherine tried again.

"Shit." Sara stopped as she realized what she had just said. "Look, Catherine." She turned towards the blonde. "I'm sorry. I just… Please don't have me fired for this, but I should probably tell you … God, what am I doing?" She sat down on one of the chairs in front of the desk and held her head in her hands.

"Sara, what…" Catherine was confused.

"These things always happen when she's around." Sara said.

"She?"

"Veronica. She always makes me do things I'd never do on my own." Sara was still hiding her face in her hands.

"Ok. I'm confused." Catherine admitted. "We were talking and now Veronica is in the middle of it all?"

"Yes. She said something and then Nick said something…"

"Nick? What's Nick…"

"Yes, at lunch he said something as well, and then Grissom interrupted and…" Sara looked up at the blonde knowing that it was now or never.

"Catherine, I have feelings for you."

------------------

"Do you need help checking out the guards?" Nick asked, walking into the lab where Warrick was working.

"Sure, but aren't you going to the prison?" Warrick asked.

"They can't have him ready until 4 o'clock, so I have a couple of hours to kill."

"Pull up a chair." Warrick nodded towards the chair next to him. "Here." He added, handing him a stack of papers.

"Did you get Catherine to go out for lunch?" Nick asked while working his way through the pile of papers Warrick had given him.

"Yeah, it was nice." Warrick said. "Got updated on all the gossip."

"Yeah?" Nick tried to sound casual. "Lindsey's doing ok?"

"Yeah, she's good. Looking forward to her birthday coming around."

"That's right, I gotta buy her something." Nick thought out loud. "So, is she seeing anyone?" He added casually, wanting to find out as much as possible for Sara.

"Who? Lindsey? No, I think she's still a little young for that." Warrick joked.

"No, jackass." Nick punched him on the arm. "Catherine."

"No, not really." Warrick was dying to tell Nick about what Catherine had told him, but he would never betray her confidence.

"Not really?" Nick asked not understanding.

"She has her eyes on someone, but I can't tell you who. She'd kill me."

"Gotcha." Nick nodded.

"How was lunch with Sara?" Warrick asked.

"It was good," Nick smiled. "Finally got some gossip."

"Yeah? What?"

"Can't really tell you, but it was nice to see her so relaxed for once."

"Yeah, the girl needs to relax more. Is she seeing anyone?"

"Not really." Nick answered with a smile.

"Not really?" Warrick said. "Well, we all know who she has her eye on."

"I doubt it." Nick smiled.

"Come on, man. Everybody knows she has a thing for Grissom." Warrick said, feeling a little sorry for Catherine.

"Not according to her." Nick told him.

"What? Well, who then?" Warrick was surprised, but happy that Sara had gotten over Grissom. Those two would never be right for each other.

"You know I can't tell you that, man."

"It was worth a try, though." Warrick chuckled.

"I forgot to call Catherine to tell her when we're leaving for the jail. I better do that." Nick said, pulling out his phone and dialling the number.

------------------

"Oh." Catherine felt her stomach doing summersaults. "Sara…" She was interrupted by her phone ringing. "Willows." She answered harder than necessary.

"_Catherine, it's Nick."_

"What do you want now, Nick?"

"_Did I interrupt something? You sound a little pissed."_

"Yes, you did. What did you want, Nick?"

"_Just wanted to say that they'll be ready for us at the jail at 4."_

"Ok, thank you, Nick. Sara and I will be joining you."

"_I really don't think Sara should be there." Nick said worriedly._

"I don't either, but I can't convince her not to go." Catherine explained.

"_Ok. I'll meet you guys by the car at 3 then. I'll let you get back to what you were doing."_

"Yes. Bye Nick." Catherine hung up and turned back to Sara. "We leave for the prison at 3."

"Ok." Sara nodded. "Look, I should probably…"

"Sara." Catherine stopped her. "I…" She was interrupted once again by a phone ringing; only this time it was Sara's.

"Sidle." Sara answered the phone.

"_Sass."_

"Foxy, hey, what's up?" Sara got up. "I gotta take this." She said to Catherine and went into the corridor outside the office.

"_I was thinking about what Catherine said. You know, that I could be wrong when I think this guy isn't coming for me."_

"Yeah?" Sara went into the locker room to get some privacy.

"_And if I'm wrong you'll be in danger as well, so I was hoping to convince you to have protection too."_

"I don't think that will be necessary." Sara said calmly. "I don't think the guy who killed Siobhan is after either of us, either."

"_Yeah, but still… Please think about it."_

"I will."

"_Promise?"_

"I promise."

"_Good. What are you doing? Don't you need to get home and get some sleep soon?"_

"Sleep? I doubt I'll get any sleep even if I had time to go home." Sara laughed.

"_What do you mean?" Veronica sounded worried. "You still think about the attack? I could probably prescribe a couple of sleeping pills for you, but only as long as this case is going on."_

"No, that won't be necessary. It's just…" Sara looked around in the locker room making sure that she was alone. "I told her."

"_You told who what, hon? OH! You told Catherine? Way to go sweetie!"_

"No! Not good, Foxy. You always make me do these stupid things!"

"_What? Me? I haven't talked to you the last ten hours or so, and I didn't tell you to tell her anything before that."_

"You hinted that she would be interested."

"_Well, yeah but… What did she say?"_

"Nothing."

"_Nothing? Surely she would say something…" There was a pause. "Sara, did you give her a chance to say anything?"_

"The phone interrupted us."

"_I interrupted you?" Veronica asked, not believing that she of all people would be the one with such bad timing._

"Well, Nick interrupted us first, then you."

"_Well, what the hell are you doing talking to me? Get back there and talk to her!"_

"Foxy…"

"_You haven't hung up yet? Get going you big idiot!"_

"Foxy, I don't know what she's going to say."

"_There's only one way to find out, hon. And I swear to God – if you don't hang up this instant and get back to her, I will come over there myself and make you talk to her."_

"I love you, Veronica." Sara smiled.

"_Wrong girl you're saying that to. Now go!"_

"Bye." Sara hung up the phone. She hesitated a moment, before heading back to Catherine's office.


	21. Going to Jail

This was supposed to be posted last night, but I got a little distracted. Sorry about that. Thank you again for all the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this one as well.

Thank you Lady J… (I so love that name too…) You know you're the best, right?

**Chapter Twenty One**

**Going to Jail**

There was a knock on the door and she went to answer it, closely followed by two of the men assigned to protect her.

"Ben?"

"Ronnie," Ben looked up with tears in his eyes, "I'm so sorry." He wiped away the tears running down his cheeks with his sleeve. "I just…"

"It's ok." She stepped closer to him. "Come here." She pulled him into a hug. "Shhh… It's all going to be ok, Benji. It's all so long ago…"

"I just walked out on you." He sobbed into her shoulder. "Dad walked out on you back then and I walked out now…"

"It's ok. I understand. You had to process all this." She was holding on tight and stroking his hair trying to calm him down. "Shhh… Don't cry Benji. Don't cry. Come on in." She released the strong hold she had on him, but kept an arm around him leading him inside. "Guys, could you leave us alone please?" She asked Mr. Jones and the uniformed cop, who left the room to give them the needed privacy.

"God Veronica, I am so sorry. I don't know how to ever make this up to you again. The one time you need my support the most, I let you down."

"It's ok, Ben. I knew you'd come back eventually – you always do. You can't live without me." She said with a smile, trying to make him feel better.

"It's not ok, Ronnie. I did just what all the others did - I walked out on you. I swore to myself that I would never do that to you and I did." He looked down guiltily.

"Well," Veronica sat down on the couch and patted the spot next to her. "Look at it this way; you are the only one who has returned voluntarily. The one person I can always count on."

"Sara came back." He said, sitting down next to her.

"By accident."

"But she stayed."

"Yes, she did." Veronica smiled. "And she'll stick around this time, too."

"So, do we like her?" He asked, trying to revive an old game they used to play.

"No…" Veronica played along. "We love her."

"Love?" Benjamin looked at her. "Kim's not going to like that."

"Love as in platonic, as in a best friend kind of way. Kim is still… Kim."

"Ah, ok. Well, as long as she doesn't replace your little brother, I'm ok with her." He said, placing an arm around her shoulders and squeezing lightly.

"Never." She answered, leaning into him to accept the comfort he was offering. "Ben… There's something I have to tell you."

"Again?" He joked.

"Yes." She sat back up and looked at him. "The guy who killed Siobhan might have me targeted as his next victim. Most likely Bridget is the one he's after, but Anita or I could be in danger as well."

"What!" Benjamin got up and started pacing the floor. "What are the police doing about all this?"

"They are protecting us, and Dad sent Mr. Jones to keep an eye on Julie and me as well."

"Dad?" He stopped mid pace and turned towards her. "You are accepting anything he has to offer you?"

"Yes. I am. I need for Julie to be protected. I need to know that she is as safe as she can possibly be."

"She can be protected without Dad's help!" He was raising his voice. "The guy threw you out at 15, and then ignored you when you were raped and almost killed…"

"It's been over ten years, Ben!" Veronica got up and shouted back. "You have to forgive sooner or later!"

"Why? Why the hell should I forgive that bastard? Tell me that, Veronica. He fucking hurt you! He separated us!"

"Because it makes life so much easier, Benji. It makes it so much easier without all the hate and pain and…" She was interrupted by someone clearing their throat, trying to get their attention. They both turned towards the newcomer.

"Can I get some of that forgiveness too?" Kimberly asked.

----------------------------

On the way back to Catherine's office, Sara prepared herself for the worst-case scenario. After all, she had just told a female colleague that she had feelings for her. Ok, so the colleague was the most gorgeous woman on earth who would be used to people falling for her all the time, but she was still a senior CSI and if anyone would have to leave the lab it would be Sara. Maybe she could convince the blonde to not press sexual harassment charges against her and just let her transfer somewhere far away. Overnight if possible.

"Sara."

She looked up at the woman she had been thinking about.

"Catherine."

They fell silent, just staring at each other.

"Could we…" Catherine gestured back to her office. "Finish up in there?"

"Uhm…" Sara started.

"Ok, it wasn't really a question, Sara. Get into the office."

"Bossy." Sara muttered.

"You know you love it. Now get in there."

As soon as they were in the office Sara started talking, not letting Catherine get a word in.

"Look, Cath. I know I have no right to ask this of you, but is it possible that you could just forget all this and let me transfer somewhere else without pressing charges against me? I shouldn't have said anything at all, I don't know what got into me umph…" She was stopped effectively by Catherine's hand clamped over her mouth.

"Sara, would you let me get a word in?" She asked, looking the younger woman in the eyes.

Sara, whose mouth was still covered by Catherine's hand, nodded slowly.

"Sara…" Catherine removed her hand from the brunette's mouth. "I don't know what to say…" She didn't get further before they were once again interrupted by a knock on the door. She went to the door and opened it forcefully. "What?" She barked, without looking who was on the other side first.

"Miss Willows." The man on the other side greeted her.

"Governor Lavisham." She answered in a slightly gentler tone of voice. "How can I help you?"

"Miss Sidle." The Governor greeted Sara as he entered the office. "I know it hasn't been long since we last spoke, but I would like another update on the case. I am visiting the Rowans in a couple of hours and I would like to have some news for them."

"Sure." Catherine told him. "Sara." She said, stopping the other woman from leaving the office. "Just a second, Governor, I'll be right with you." She told him, rushing out after the brunette. "Sara!"

"You should update the Governor, Catherine." Sara said, feeling a little safer in the corridor.

"We _are_ going to talk about this, Sara." Catherine informed her. "I'll get rid of the Governor and then you are going to give me the chance to get a word in." She turned to go back to her office. "Wait for me in the break room."

--------------------------------

"Hey." Nick greeted the brunette as she walked up to the car.

"Hey." Sara smiled back.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Nick asked.

"No." Sara answered honestly, leaning against the car next to him. "But I have to. I need to know that that son of a bitch is still in jail."

"Ok." Nick looked at her. "But you're not getting in the room with him, right?"

"No." Sara smiled even though it was a serious conversation. "Catherine won't let me."

Nick smiled too at the thought of Sara Sidle willingly taking orders from Catherine Willows.

"You're whipped." He snickered.

"I'm…" She was stopped from retaliating as Catherine walked up to them.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. I couldn't get rid of the Governor." She said, looking Sara straight in the eyes, offering a silent apology.

"It's ok." Nick said getting into the car. "It's only a couple of minutes."

"Yeah, no worries." Sara said, getting in the back leaving the passenger side for Catherine.

In the car, Nick turned back to Sara.

"As I said, you're so whipped."

"I…" Once again she was stopped from answering back as Catherine opened the door and got into the car.

-------------------------

"So…" Nick started, wanting to break the uncomfortable silence they had been sitting in for the last 15 minutes of driving. "How do we play this? Good cop, bad CSI?"

"I don't think that will work on him, Nick." Sara answered. "He is highly intelligent and won't fall for any stupid little tricks."

"So Nick and Brass will have to outsmart him?" Catherine wanted to know.

"No offence, but I don't think that's going to happen either." Sara sighed. "I think you just have to ask him your questions and hope that he'll feel confident enough that you won't figure out his plan to answer them truthfully." She thought about it for a minute. "In fact if you could act a little stupider than you really are that might help… He loves feeling superior."

"I can't imagine Veronica letting him feel superior to her." Catherine remarked.

"No." Sara said with a sigh. "I think that's partly why he chose her – he wants to break her."

"That won't happen." Nick promised.

"No, not as long as we have anything to do with it." Catherine agreed.

"Ok, here we are." Nick said as they pulled up and parked next to Brass' car. As they got out, the Captain got out of his car as well.

"Hi guys." He said.

"Brass." Catherine greeted him.

"I didn't think you wanted any females here." Brass said questioningly.

"I couldn't stop her from coming here." Catherine offered as an explanation. "So I figured I'd tag along and keep an eye on her."

"Ok." Brass accepted the explanation and understood why Sara wanted to be there. "But neither of you are going to be in the room with him."

"No, Catherine already made me promise." Sara said with a smile as they walked up the path.

"Yeah, and you better not forget it." Catherine said, placing a hand on Sara's lower back guiding her up the steps to the entrance.

"I won't." Sara couldn't stop the big smile forming on her lips. If Catherine was touching her, she couldn't be as mad as Sara feared. Even if it was just a worried colleague offering her support, it was better than a pissed Catherine. "I don't ever want to talk to him ever again."


	22. Jail

Thank you all for the feedback, I love feedback. I hope you all enjoy this new chapter… It might be a little creepy though…

Lady Jess, thank you so much for all the things you do to help making this story better. I have the best beta in the world!

**  
Chapter Twenty Two**

**Jail**

"Kimberly?" Veronica looked at her wife. "What are you talking about?"

"I want to come back home." Kimberly answered, looking her in the eyes.

"You have some nerve just walking in like this." Benjamin told her.

"How else should I do it?" Kimberly asked. "I love you, V. I want to come home."

"When it rains it pours," Veronica said sitting back down, feeling a little overwhelmed by everything that had happened in the last 24 hours. "Ben, could you…"

"Sure." Benjamin left the room saying: "You just call if you need me, I won't be far away."

"Thanks." Veronica threw distractedly at him. "So…" She looked at Kimberly. "I thought you'd still be working Siobhan's case."

"Yeah," Kimberly was still standing at the door. "Sofia told me to go home and get a little sleep."

"Oh." The doctor gestured to the couch. "You can sit down if you want."

"Thanks." The detective sat down next to the petite redhead. "I want to come home, Veronica."

"Why?" Veronica turned and looked at her.

"Why? I love you. I miss you… I miss us."

"You left me, Kim."

"I didn't leave you, I needed a break. It just got too much for me. I…"

"You needed a break from me. You needed a break from me even though you promised to be with me in good times and bad. If I say ok and let you come back now, how will I know you won't just leave me again?"

"I…"

"Can you promise that you'll never leave me again, Kim? Because people seem to leave me all the time, and I'm not sure if I can take much more of it. I need to be strong right now. I need to protect our daughter and I can't do that unless I know that you're one hundred percent sure that you want to come back. I can't live with that uncertainty."

"I'm sure." Kimberly held Veronica's hand. "I want us to be together. I was miserable without you, and this case gave me the push I needed to realize that I want you – I want all of you. I want you to let me be strong for you." She leaned in pressing their foreheads together. "Please let me be there for you. Please let me protect you. I'll take time off work and stay here protecting my girls. Please be my girl again. Please, please, please be my girl again."

Veronica brought up a hand, cupping the other woman's cheek.

"I've always been your girl, Kim." She smiled softly. "I'm just not sure you're mine."

"There's never been anyone else for me. Please let me protect you and Julie."

----------------------

"Warden Matthews? I'm Catherine Willows with the Las Vegas Crime Lab. These are my colleagues Sara Sidle, Nick Stokes and Captain Brass with the LVPD." Catherine shook hands with the man who greeted them at the entrance to the prison.

"Hello, Miss Willows." Warden Matthews guided them inside. "You're here to see Oscar Charles Dunne?"

"Yes." Sara was the one to answer. "And we're going to need the visitors log as well."

"I would love to give it to you, but you need a warrant for that, I'm afraid." Warden Matthews said with an apologetic shrug.

"Like this one?" Brass asked, handing over the warrant.

"Yes, Sir," The warden smiled. "I'll get that ready for you while you visit with Mr. Dunne."

"Thank you," Catherine said, "Miss Sidle and I will not be in the room with Dunne, so I hope you have a room with a two way mirror."

"Yes, we have everything set up for you in here." He took them to a small interview room. "Is this alright for you?"

"Yes, this is fine." Brass told him. "Cath, Sara, why don't you two get into the other room? And you get Dunne in here with us, Matthews."

"Sure thing Brass. Sara…" Catherine took hold of Sara's hand in support, leading her into the observation room. Once alone in there, she turned towards the brunette. "Look, Sara, I'm sorry that we've been interrupted all day and I know that this isn't the best time, but…" She stepped into Sara's personal space and whispered: "I _was_ about to kiss you when Grissom interrupted." She gave the surprised woman a short but sweet kiss and stepped back. "And I won't press charges if you don't."

"Ok..." Sara was utterly surprised and couldn't come up with a better answer.

"Good." Catherine smiled. "Now that we've got that out of the way, let's get back to work." And with that she moved to stand in front of the two way mirror.

"Ok..." Sara still hadn't moved since the kiss. _'She kissed me. Catherine kissed me. I just got kissed by Catherine Willows. She kissed me.'_

"Sara." Catherine looked back at her. "You should probably get up here if you want a good look at him."

"What?" Sara shook her head, trying to get out of the trance she was in. "Right." She stepped closer to the mirror.

"I'll just get some sound on this." Catherine said, switching on the mike. She looked back and noticed the haunted look that had replaced the pleasantly surprised look on Sara's face. "Are you going to be ok doing this?" She asked, concerned.

"I don't know…" Sara stepped closer to the mirror, but kept her distance from Catherine. She looked into the room with Nick and Brass in it. "It's been so long since all this happened. I didn't think I'd ever have to…" She looked over at the blonde, "…deal with him again. I really thought that all this was behind me."

"I'm sorry." Catherine moved a little closer to Sara without pushing her. "I wish you didn't have to go through it."

Sara smiled in thanks and reached out for Catherine's hand. She needed to feel the strength that the other woman exuded. She took the last step closer to her, and watched as the door in the other room slowly opened.

----------------------------

"I need you to find the guy who did this to Siobhan." Veronica started. "We have enough protection here." She added as Kimberly was about to interrupt. "With Mr. Jones we have seven people looking after us - eight if you count Benjamin. We'll be safe." She kissed Kimberly lightly on the lips. "You need to get some sleep."

"Are you going to take me back?" Kimberly asked.

"For now, yes." Veronica nodded. "But we need to talk this through later – when all this is over we need to have a long talk."

"I know." Kimberly smiled happily. "Thank you. I'm so sorry that I ever hurt you. I'll make it up to you, I promise." She leaned in, placing a kiss soft kiss on the smaller woman's lips. When she started to deepen the kiss Veronica pulled back.

"You need to sleep." She told her. "Don't start something you can't finish."

"I can finish." Kimberly said with a pout. "I promise." She leaned in for another kiss.

"Right." Veronica said sarcastically, leaning back. "You need sleep." She repeated.

"Where's Julie?"

"Napping in my… our bedroom."

"Ok. Would you mind if I crash here?"

"No, I wouldn't mind."

"Want to join me?" Kimberly held out her hand.

Veronica looked at the offered hand for a second, thinking about the offer the other woman had made.

"To sleep," Kimberly clarified. "No hanky panky with Jules in the room."

"I know." Veronica said with a small smile. She took the offered hand. "Sure. Let's go sleep." If she was taking Kimberly back, she might as well do it fully.

----------------------------

The door seemed to take hours opening. Dunne entered the room; his hands in handcuffs and his feet chained together. Catherine couldn't suppress a gasp as she saw him.

"That's the one thing I'll never get used to in this job." She said. "He looks so normal."

"Yeah." Sara's voice sounded detached. "That's how he got away with stalking Veronica for months without her noticing. He looks so average."

-------------------------

Dunne was wearing the government issued orange jumpsuit with a white t-shirt underneath and black shoes. He had no visible tattoos or scars of any kind. His brown hair was neatly trimmed and he was clean shaven. Despite being in chains, he walked into the room as if he owned it.

"Oscar Dunne." Brass greeted him. "I'm Jim Brass with the LVPD and this is Nick Stokes with the crime lab. We have a couple of questions to ask you. Have a seat." He pulled out a chair for Dunne.

"I see," Dunne smiled pleasantly. "You found my business card, did you?"

The guard who had escorted Dunne to the room chained him to the table.

"Thank you, Stanley." Dunne said to him.

He kept quiet and stood by the door, keeping an eye on the prisoner.

"Well." Dunne seemed to have taken over the conversation. "What do you want to ask me?" He asked, looking directly towards the mirror on the wall.

-------------------------

"That's definitely Dunne." Sara took an involuntary step back, dragging Catherine with her. "He knows we're in here."

"There's no way he could know, Sara." Catherine tried to reassure her.

"I can see it in his eyes. He knows I'm here." Sara was sure that he knew. "Catherine, you need to get protection for Lindsey."

"What?"

"He will find out about you. He has someone on the outside who kills like him. He might have him spy on both Veronica and I, as well. Please, just get protection for her."

"Sara, Lindsey is hardly in any danger. We haven't even been on a date yet."

"If he has had months to study me, he will know how I feel about you…" Sara turned and looked Catherine in the eyes. "Please have Lindsey protected."

"Sara…" Catherine's protest was stopped by Sara's lips claiming hers. They were demanding, and Catherine felt the pure need from the other woman. As she felt a tongue caress her lips, she granted it entrance and tongues duelled until they both felt the need for air. As their lips parted Sara drew her into a tight hug, panting slightly.

"Please have her protected." She whispered in the blonde's ear. "I couldn't live with myself if anything should happen to either of you because of me."

Having felt the feeling the brunette had poured into the kiss, Catherine merely nodded against her shoulder holding on tightly.

"Thank you." Sara whispered and kissed her gently on the forehead. "Thank you."


	23. Interviewing Dunne

Thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate you guys taking the time to both read and review. Hope you'll enjoy this next chapter.

Jess, thank you – you know how much I love having you as my beta. I am still in mourning – first the hair, then… You know…

**Chapter Twenty Three**

**Interviewing Dunne**

"What do you mean we found your business card?" Brass asked the man sitting in front of him.

"I would think that even you could figure that one out." Dunne answered him.

"The hair."

"Very well done, Officer."

"Captain," Brass corrected him. "Now, do you know a Siobhan Rowan?"

-------------------------

Sara kept her eyes completely on Dunne during this exchange of words, while Catherine tried to observe the rest of the room as well.

"Did you see that?" She asked the brunette.

"What?" Sara looked shortly at the blonde before looking back at Dunne.

"The guard." Catherine explained. "He flinched when Brass mentioned Siobhan Rowan."

"He looks young. Maybe he's not used to hearing about the victims."

"Maybe." Catherine paused. "But I think we should look into his files when we get back to headquarters."

"Yeah." Sara replied, absentmindedly. Her focus was on Dunne, and only Dunne.

-------------------------

"Not personally, no." Dunne didn't give anything away.

"How do you know her then?" Brass inquired.

"Her father works for Governor Lavisham."

"And why would you know a thing like that?" Brass asked.

"I know all there is to know about my mate."

"Your… mate?" Brass asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"The woman the good Lord has made for me."

"I didn't know they allowed blow up dolls in here." Brass winked at Nick, who smiled in return.

Dunne kept his cool and didn't respond to the teasing.

"So, this mate of yours…" Brass started up again. "I heard you tried to kill her. The good Lord tell you to do that?"

"No, I am serving my penance now. The devil took possession of her and I panicked – I was young and inexperienced."

"And now?" Nick spoke up.

"Oh." Dunne turned his head and looked at him. "It speaks." He looked back at Brass. "Now I am older and wiser."

-------------------------

"He's playing with them." Sara said. "He won't tell them anything."

"Yeah." Catherine had dealt with enough criminals to know that Sara was right.

"We better hope that we will get something from the visitor log or we're close to having nothing."

"We will solve this, Sara." Catherine tried to convince herself as much as the other woman. "He went after one of us once and we won't let him have the last word."

"I hope you're right, Cath. I really hope you're right."

-------------------------------

"My sweet Veronica has the devil present in her life – it is my job to help her. It is my job to rid the world of this devil and soon my job will be done." Dunne started preaching. "Lucifer takes on many disguises but I see through all of them. Through the hands of God I will be your saviour. I am his son and I will save you from the vile women that are the devil."

"Yeah, yeah. Amen." Brass said sarcastically. "What do you know about Siobhan Rowan's death?"

"Nothing I care to share with you, Captain."

"Well, you see this guy used the same MO as you, only he succeeded where you failed – he killed the one standing between him and his real target. This must be one smart guy. Much smarter than you since you are sitting in here because of Miss Sidle." Brass was trying to upset the man sitting in front of him.

----------------------------

"I think you might be right, Catherine." Sara said. "The guard looks really uncomfortable in there. He's sweating more than you usually would during an interview like this."

"We need to look into him a.s.a.p." Catherine concurred. "We'll call Warrick as soon as we leave here."

"Smart? No. Good at taking directions? Yes." Dunne smiled behind the mirror. "As I said, I am older and wiser now." He looked back at the mirror. "Not to mention stronger."

"He is going to try to escape." Sara gasped.

"What?" Catherine looked at the scared woman beside her.

"That was a threat." Sara told the blonde. "He looked right at me. He knows how close he was to killing me, and now he's telling us he's stronger and will succeed this time around."

"Sara, we don't know this for sure." Catherine squeezed the hand that hadn't let go of hers during the entire interview.

"Please trust me on this one. He will try to escape soon."

----------------------------

After interviewing Dunne for another half an hour without getting anything useful from him, Brass and Nick joined Sara and Catherine in the other room.

"He's up to something." Brass said as he entered the room, looking through the mirror at the guard leading Dunne out.

"Miss Sidle." Dunne stopped just short of the door and looked towards the window. "Give my love to my sweet Veronica and tell her I'll see her soon."

"That's it!" Sara made a move for the door.

Catherine had seen this coming as soon as Dunne had started talking and threw her body in front of the brunette, effectively stopping her. She placed her hands on the other woman's upper arms - holding her still, looking her in the eyes.

"Don't do this. You're playing right into his hands; this is what he wants you to do. Just calm down and ignore him."

"He is threatening my best friend, Cath!" Sara struggled to get out of the firm grasp the blonde had on her.

"Veronica is safe!"

"She won't be forever! He is going to get out of here and…"

"This is a maximum security prison; he won't get out of here!" Catherine tried to get through to Sara.

"He has had ten years to plan his escape and what he will do to her! He will get out! Let me go! I need to get out there!" She struggled harder.

Catherine kept holding onto her, determined to not let her anywhere near Dunne. Sara relaxed a little preparing to get loose, but didn't have a chance as Catherine took advantage of it. She pushed the brunette against the nearest wall, putting her body flush against her.

"I can't let you go out there, Sara." She said as they stood there face to face. "Nick, Brass… Make sure that he is gone and then come get us."

"You got it, Boss." Nick said trying not to smile too much at Catherine's way of stopping Sara. It looked like Sara had a chance with the blonde after all.

"Sure." Brass followed Nick out the door. "We'll make sure to knock before coming back in." He threw over his shoulder with a smirk.

"Catherine, please let me go." Sara told the blonde.

"I can't do that, Sara." Catherine said quietly.

"Please, Cath…" Sara didn't want to give up.

The older woman changed her hold on Sara and pulled her into a hug, but still held on tight.

"I need you to clear your head, honey. Siobhan Rowan needs you on this case. Veronica needs you on this case. _I_ need you on this case."

She felt the tension fall from Sara's body as she leant heavier against her. Tears formed in the blonde's eyes as she felt the brunette's body shake with silent sobs. She held on tighter, offering all the support she possibly could.

"It's ok, Sara. Just let it out. It's ok." She kept whispering comforting words in her ear; stroking her hair gently as if she were comforting a child.

There was a knock on the door and Nick poked his head in.

"Guys?"

Catherine looked back at him shortly.

"Give us a minute, Nick." She told him.

Nick nodded and closed the door again. Sara had gotten a hold of herself and stepped out of Catherine's embrace, moving to stand in front of the two way mirror with her arms wrapped protectively around her stomach.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, bringing a hand up to wipe away tears.

"Sara…" Catherine stepped up behind her and placed her hands on her shoulder blades. "Never apologize for crying. Just the fact that you've stayed strong for this long is impressive."

"Thanks." Sara sniffed, trying to hold back another burst of tears. She had always been taught that crying was showing weakness, and weakness would be punished.

"You're the strongest person I know, Sara." Catherine placed her arms around Sara's waist, resting her cheek on the strong shoulders in front of her. She wanted to comfort the other woman as much as possible. She felt Sara stiffen. "You want me to not do this?" She asked, and released her hold a little.

"No." Sara relaxed a little in the embrace, placing her hands over Catherine's, holding her in place. "It's just I'm… I'm not used to people caring."

"Get used to it, honey. You have a lot of people who care about you." Catherine smiled. "And I don't know about the others, but I plan on sticking around for a long time."


	24. SOB

Here's the next chapter for ya. As usual I would just like to say thank you for the reviews. I hope you will let me know what you think of this one as well.

Lady J, thank you again. I never know how to say thank you in a new way in these notes, so I'll just stick with the simple thank you and hope it's enough.

**Chapter Twenty Four**

**SOB**

"She what?" Veronica sat up in bed and looked down at Kimberly.

"She went with the guys to the jail." Kimberly repeated.

"To see _him_?" Veronica asked, not quite believing what she was hearing. "Why the hell would she willingly go see him? And why didn't anyone stop her?"

"I don't know," Kimberly sat up as well. "I wasn't there when they left, but I think Catherine went with her." She paused. "Which is a little weird because those two really don't get along too well."

"Neither did we when we first met, Kim." Veronica tried to clue her in.

"You think they…?" She looked at her wife. "No… Really?"

Veronica neither confirmed nor denied, but just looked back at her wife.

"How did I not see that one coming?" Kimberly shook her head. "Really?" She asked again, just to make sure.

"She went to the jail to see Dunne?" Veronica shook her head reaching for her cell phone on the nightstand. "I better call her and make sure she's ok." She leaned over and kissed Kimberly. "Get some sleep will ya? You need all your strength for this case."

"Yes dear." Kimberly smiled, and lay back down.

----------------------------

"We have to get back to the lab." Catherine said, after enjoying the closeness for a couple of minutes. "We need to get moving on this again."

"I know." Sara sighed. "We need to get Warrick to check up on the guard." She kept her hold on Catherine's hands though, and didn't move.

"We have to move to do that, you know." Catherine smiled.

"Five more minutes?" Sara joked, but reluctantly let go of the blonde's hands and stepped away from her.

They smiled at each other, Sara trying somehow to express to the other woman how grateful she was. Trying to show how much it meant that the other woman had been there to catch her when she fell. To show that she appreciated how Catherine had stopped her from doing something stupid like facing Dunne.

"Thanks." Was all she could put into words. It didn't sound like much, but it was sincere and heartfelt, and Catherine understood.

"Any time, Sara." She grabbed a hold of the other woman's hand. "Now let's get out of here. I don't know if the boys think that we're killing each other or we're… well, naked on the desk having fun." She dragged a blushing Sara out of the room to meet up with the two men.

"Are you ok?" Nick placed a hand on Sara's shoulder in support. He had been worried about his friend.

"I just really want to get out of here." Sara answered him with a strained smile. "Being here gives me the creeps."

"Ok, let's get going then." The Texan noticed the two women holding hands, and he looked at Sara with a big smile.

"Nick, will you come with me to get the visitor log from Warden Matthews? Brass, you and Sara wait outside?" Catherine squeezed Sara's hand lightly before letting go and walking down the hall with Nick.

"Remember to get the name of the guard." Sara told her.

"Yes." Catherine looked back with a smile. CSI Sidle was back in the game.

-------------------------------

Once outside, Sara leaned against their car and took a few deep breaths of fresh air, trying to clear her head.

"You ok there?" Brass asked, moving to stand next to her.

"I will be." Sara answered truthfully.

They stood in silence for a while, taking in the surroundings. Sara was the one to break it.

"Brass." She looked over at the Captain. "I need you to get a couple of uniforms to protect Lindsey."

"Lindsey?"

"Lindsey Willows."

"Catherine's daughter?" Brass asked. "Why?"

"Because she might be in danger on this case." Sara didn't elaborate.

"How?" Brass pushed, needing to know the details.

"She's connected to me."

"If that's all you have to base this on, I can't defend using two officers to do that to the Sheriff." Brass told her apologetically. "Then we'd have to put guards on your neighbours, dry cleaner or pizza delivery guy as well. They're as connected to you as a colleague's daughter."

"Catherine is… Catherine is more than just a colleague to me, Jim." Sara looked down at her shoes. "And if this guy has had months to study me, he'll know that."

"Ok." Brass nodded. "I'll get a couple of people on it."

"Thanks."

"No problem." He looked over at her. "Does Catherine know this?"

"Yes." Sara smiled.

"All of it?"

"Yes." Her smile grew bigger.

"That explains how she could keep you against that wall." Brass chuckled. "I was already trying to figure out how I was going to explain how one or both of you got injured in a closed room with just the two of you in it."

"Yeah, she did say that you guys would be thinking something along those lines." Sara laughed with him, deliberately leaving out the naked fun on the table part Catherine had been talking about.

That did sound great, though.

----------------------------

"Catherine?" Nick started when the other two had left.

"Yes, Nick?" Catherine turned her head to look at him but kept walking.

"You know, this case is really getting to Sara."

"I know."

"And you two have been very… civil towards each other lately."

"We have."

"I just don't want to see Sara hurt, so I hope it's not just because of this case that you're not at each other's throats."

"Nick." Catherine stopped and turned towards him. "If you've got something to say to me, just say it."

"I'm just looking out for her is all." Nick told the blonde.

"So am I, Nick." Catherine started walking again. "Now can we just get that log and get out of here?"

"Yeah." Nick smiled and followed her.

-------------------------------

"Brown." Warrick answered the phone.

"_Hey Rick. It's Catherine."_

"Hey, how are things going with Dunne?"

"_We're on our way back now. We didn't get much from him. How are things on your end?"_

"Nothing suspicious so far with the guards. Sofia and Kimberly went home to get a couple of hours of sleep."

"_That's good. There's nothing they can do right now anyway. It's better to have them fresh tonight. Look, I need you to take a look at a guard called Stanley Burns. He was acting suspicious during the interview."_

"Stanley Burns?" Warrick jotted the name down on a piece of paper. "Sure, I'll get right on that. How'd Sara handle seeing Dunne?"

"_Better than I would have." Catherine answered him. "I'll see you when we get back to the lab. We should be there in about half an hour."_

"Sure. I'll check up on Mr. Burns then." Warrick said.

"_Great. Bye."_

"Bye." Warrick hung up the phone and put Stanley's information in the computer, and waited for the results to present themselves.

----------------------------------

"Hi Rick." Catherine, Sara and Nick walked into the lab where Warrick was working.

"What do we have on the guard?" Sara asked.

"You ok?" Warrick asked her before answering the question.

"Yeah." Sara was a bit surprised at the question, but pleasantly so. "It was a little hard, but I had help." She smiled at Catherine.

"Now what about the guard?" Catherine asked him.

"Stanley Octavian Burns." Warrick started.

"Octavian?" Nick asked. "Wow, his parents really didn't like him much, did they?"

"Yeah," Warrick chuckled. "And if his initials are anything to go by, he did it."

"Stanley Oct…" Catherine thought out loud. "SOB – very funny."

"Born November 21st 1976. Originally from New York, but has moved around a lot. He graduated from Yale with a master's degree in mathematics…"

"And now he's a prison guard?" Sara asked not believing it.

"You have a bachelor's degree in physics and you're a CSI." Nick countered.

"I'm still a scientist." Sara defended herself. "Nothing wrong with being a prison guard, but with a master's in mathematics? I just don't buy it."

"It does show us that he's smart." Catherine stated.

"And there's no way Dunne would work with someone with a low or even average IQ." Nick said.

"When did he become a guard?" Sara asked.

Warrick looked at his notes.

"2003." He told them.

"That would have given him time to find out about the case and get in contact with Dunne." Catherine thought out loud. "Did he start out in Vegas?"

"Yes, Las Vegas was the only place he applied for." Warrick answered.

"And Dunne was transferred in 2000 – same time as Veronica moved here." Sara said.

"Ok, we have a lot of coincidences here." Catherine said. "But we need to look at the evidence as well."

"What evidence?" Sara asked. "This is all we have to go on."

"We need to talk to Bridget Rowan." Catherine said. "She was the best friend of the vic, and if anyone knows anything, it would be her."

"I'll get the PD run a more thorough background on Burns and the people who have visited Dunne." He took the visitor log that Catherine handed him.

"Good. When you've done that, you go home and get some sleep." Catherine told him. "We meet back here tonight."

"Ok, see you tonight." Warrick left the room.

"Nick, you might as well get home and get some sleep as well." Catherine told the Texan.

"Yeah. See you guys tonight then." Nick said, patting Sara on the back before leaving the two of them alone.

"What do we do?" Sara asked once the guys had gone.

"You up for a meeting with the Governor?" Catherine asked.


	25. Interviewing the Lavishams

Thank you all for the reviews, it is really nice to know what people think of the story. I hope you will enjoy this next chapter… Oh and review it as well ;-D

Lady J… Thank you so much for all your work on this. I have said it before, but I'll say it again: You're the best beta ever!

**Chapter Twenty Five**

**Interviewing the Lavishams**

"The Governor?" Sara asked. "Did you forget that I promised not to go near him?"

"Well, we're going to have to go through him to talk to Bridget Lavisham." Catherine told her. "You know how Dunne did this. You know which questions to ask."

"You've worked stalker cases before, Cath - you know which questions to ask, too." Sara countered.

"So you don't want to come?"

"No, I do."

"Then why are we discussing this?" The blonde asked with a smile.

"I don't know. Force of habit?" Sara smiled back.

"Let's go then."

-------------------------------

"You took her back, huh?" Benjamin asked as he entered the living room.

"What are you still doing here?" Veronica hung up the phone. "Don't you have a girlfriend to get home to?"

"She knows I'm gonna stay here for a while." He sat down next to her. "Did you take her back?"

"Yes, I did." Veronica nodded.

Benjamin kept quiet, but gave her a telling look.

"I know how you feel about that, Ben. You think I'm letting her off the hook too easily."

"I didn't say that."

"You thought it." She looked over at him. "I love her."

"I know you do."

"She makes me feel safe. I… For years after the attack I never felt safe – then I met Kim and…"

"She made you feel safe and protected and loved."

"Yeah."

"I get that." Benjamin nodded. "But that doesn't mean that I have to like how she's treated you for the last four months."

"Maybe you can practice some forgiveness on her, then work your way up to mom and dad."

"I can try." He smiled at her. "For you."

"Don't do it for me – do it for you. It will make your life so much easier."

"Did you forgive the guy who..?"

"No. Some people don't deserve forgiveness." She said strongly. "And he's one of them."

"Good." Was the only response Benjamin could give.

"I need to try Sara again." Veronica said, picking up the phone. "I've been trying to reach her for the last two hours and she's not answering."

-------------------------

"Hello Governor Lavisham." Catherine greeted.

"Hello Miss Willows, Miss Sidle." The Governor led them into a large, expensively furnished living room.

"This is my wife Helen and my daughter Bridget." He continued, introducing the two women sitting on the couch.

"I'm Catherine Willows and this is my colleague Sara Sidle. We're with the crime lab. We need to talk to Bridget about Miss Rowan's death."

Sara sat down opposite Bridget and smiled to the girl. "You look like your sister."

Bridget looked up at her and shook her head.

"I don't, Miss Sidle. Anita takes after dad and I look like my mom."

"I meant your other sister." Sara took out a notebook from her bag. "I knew her when she was your age."

"Oh." Bridget looked down. "I don't know her at all. What's she like?"

Catherine sat down next to Sara, letting her take charge of the conversation.

"Veronica is… a really good person. She takes care of the people she loves." Sara glanced at the Governor. "No matter who or what you are."

"I was only four when she left." Bridget looked over at the brunette. "I don't really remember her."

"Bridget, you were Siobhan's best friend, right?" Catherine spoke up, taking over the conversation.

"Yeah." Bridget answered, struggling to hold back tears.

"Did you ever see anyone suspicious hanging around when you two were together?" The blonde asked.

"No." Bridget let the tears fall silently. "I've been trying to think of something, but…" She paused.

"Everything just seemed normal." Sara finished for her.

"Yeah." Bridget looked over to her. "Your phone is blinking."

"What?" Sara looked down at her hip. "I forgot it was on silent." She told Catherine as she answered the phone. "Sidle."

"_What the hell were you thinking, Sidle?"_

"Veronica."

"_I've been trying to reach you for hours, Sara. Why the hell did you go to see Dunne?"_

"This is really not a good time for this."

"_No shit! Sara, that man… God!"_

"Ve…"

"_Don't you Veronica me. Hasn't he hurt you enough? You have to go see him now? What, you enjoy feeling like hell?"_

"I…" Sara made her way to a corner of the room to get a little privacy. "Excuse me Governor." She said politely.

"_Excuse me, who?" Veronica asked._

"Veronica, this is a really bad time for this. No, I don't enjoy feeling like hell, but I had to make sure that it really was Dunne in that cell. You and I both know that if anyone was smart enough to pull a switch, it's him."

"_You should have sent me instead."_

"Yes, that would have been a really great idea," Sara hissed. "Send in the girl who he's fanatically obsessed with, that would have gone well."

"_I…"_

"Veronica, I'm fine. But you need to be extra careful, he is up to something. He sent a message."

"_What message?"_

"He told me to tell you that he'll see you soon."

"_I'll be careful." Veronica agreed._

"I need to get back to work."

"_Yeah." Veronica paused. "Sorry I yelled at you. I just worry when you do these stupid things."_

"I've been taking care of myself all my life, Foxy."

"_Because you think no one cares about you. But you have that now, Sara, so you have to be more careful."_

Sara looked back at the blonde sitting with the Lavishams.

"I know." She smiled. "I'll talk to you later."

"_Yeah. Bye."_

"Bye." Sara hung up and joined the others again. "I'm sorry about that."

Catherine hadn't gotten any new information from Bridget while Sara had been on the phone, but she continued with her line of questioning.

"Do you have any new teachers or janitors or anything like that at school, or any of the other places you hang out?" She asked the girl.

"I don't think so." Bridget thought about it. "Not that I remember. Everything has been like usual… Until she went missing."

"Do you know a man called Oscar Dunne?" Sara asked.

"No." Bridget looked at her. "Why? Did he kill Siobhan?"

"No." Sara turned towards Bridget's parents. "What about you Governor and Mrs. Lavisham?"

Mrs. Lavisham shook her head. "I don't know him. Who is he?" The woman asked.

"Governor?" Sara asked.

"No, I don't recall ever meeting an Oscar Dunne." He told them.

"Who is he?" Mrs. Lavisham repeated her question.

"Dunne was sentenced 25 to life about ten years ago." Catherine answered the question. "He raped and almost killed a young girl, and then tried to kill the girl who saved her life. She stopped him and was responsible for putting him behind bars."

"What does that have to do with Siobhan?" The Governor wanted to know.

"The MO in this case is similar to the one of Dunne." Catherine answered, avoiding going in depth with her answer.

"And we think he has been training someone to be like him." Sara continued.

"But no one saved Siobhan." Bridget whispered.

"No." Sara looked at the girl. "We think he did things the other way around this time - he started with the friend and will go after his real target now."

"And who is the real target?" Helen Lavisham asked, fearing the worst.

"We think it's Bridget." Catherine said delicately, trying to soften the blow.

"Siobhan got killed because of me?" Bridget asked between sobs.

"No." Sara said strongly. "This is not your fault. The only person to blame is the guy who killed her."

"Why Bridget?" The Governor asked, trying unsuccessfully to stop his hands from shaking.

"Because…" Sara started, but was stopped by Catherine's hand on her arm.

"Oscar Dunne is still obsessed with his first victim." She looked at the Governor. "Her best friend saved her life." She looked at Bridget. "Siobhan was your best friend, so it's natural to believe that you're the target."

Bridget nodded, seeing the logic.

"So you need to be very careful when you go out." Catherine continued.

"Even when you're at home." Sara took over. "The first victim was attacked in her dorm room, so don't let in any strangers or people you hardly know. Don't answer the door unless you are absolutely sure who is on the other side. Don't try to lose the guards protecting you just because you think it's annoying to have them follow you around."

"We'll make sure she is protected." The Governor assured them.

"Ok." Catherine got up. "We need to get back to the lab." She shook hands with the two Lavisham women and waited as Sara did the same.

"I'll walk you out." The Governor said, gesturing towards the exit.

"If you remember anything unusual, just call this number." Sara told Bridget, handing her a card before following behind the Governor and Catherine.

As they reached the door Governor Lavisham started talking again.

"I'll make sure that Bridget isn't left alone at any point until you have this guy." He told them again. "She'll be protected."

"Sure you will," Sara muttered as she passed him. "She's the straight one."

"Excuse me?" The Governor stopped her.

"Sara, don't." Catherine tried to stop the brunette.

"You sit in there pretending you've never heard about Oscar Dunne." Sara looked at the man. "That was a very nice little performance!"

"Excuse me?" The man repeated. "I don't know an Oscar Dunne. Do you really expect me to know a monster like the man you described to me?"

"I expect you to remember the name of the man who almost killed your daughter!"

"What?" The Governor looked as if someone had slapped him in the face. "What?" He whispered again.

"Yeah. How long did it take for you to forget?" Sara asked.

"Veronica was the first victim?" He asked as if he could hardly believe he was asking the question.

Catherine nodded quietly.

"I didn't know." He looked at them. "I didn't know."

"I was the friend." Sara told him. "The hospital called you. You knew, but you didn't even bother to make sure that she was ok." She grabbed a hold of Catherine's arm and guided her to the car.

"I didn't know!" Governor Lavisham shouted after them. "I didn't know." He whispered to himself. "Oh Veronica, I'm sorry." He leant against the doorframe crying. "I didn't know."


	26. Goodnight Kiss

I am so sorry that it has taken so long for this chapter to be posted! But my parents made me work hard when I visited them this week and I had a three day festival to go to as well… Anyways, here's the next chapter and I promise that it won't take as long for the next chapter to be posted.

Thanks for all the reviews and feel free to review on this one as well :-D

As always a big, big thank you to Lady J for being my beta, you are the best!

**Chapter Twenty Six**

**Goodnight Kiss**

"Thanks for the ride." Sara looked over at the blonde. "I guess I'll see you tonight."

"Sara." Catherine stopped her before she got out of the car.

"Yeah?"

"When all this is over…" Catherine unbuckled her seatbelt and turned her upper body towards the brunette. "We should go on a date."

"I'd like that." Sara smiled.

"We don't have the time for it now." Catherine continued, as if Sara hadn't spoken. "I have to get home and spend what little time I have with Lindsey."

"Yeah, of course you do." Sara answered, not quite seeing where the blonde was going with this.

"The thing is…" Catherine looked her in the eyes, "I don't usually do this." She smiled.

"Do what?" Sara asked, still clueless as to what was going on.

"Ask for a goodnight kiss without the date."

"Oh…" Sara smiled back at her. "Well, I don't usually give out goodnight kisses without the date." She looked at her watch. "And technically it's not night – it's 4 pm…"

"Sara?"

"Yeah?" She looked back up.

"Shut up and kiss me."

"Ok..."

They both leaned in at the same time and lips met in a hungry kiss. Catherine tangled her hands in the soft hair of the other woman, pressing gently on the back of her head to deepen the kiss. Tongue met tongue battling for control – neither winning, both enjoying the match. Sara brought her hand up to the blonde's shoulder and began tracing a path down her torso - grazing the outline of her breasts and moving lower to end on the hips, holding on tightly. Pulling apart, their breathing heavy, they looked into each other's eyes with wide smiles on their faces.

"Now I'm really looking forward to that date." Catherine smiled, looking at the brunette through half lidded eyes.

"Goodnight." Sara whispered, placing one last chaste kiss on Catherine's lips.

"Goodnight." Catherine put her seatbelt back on.

Sara got out of the car and watched with a smile as Catherine drove away.

----------------------------

Two men dressed in prison guard uniforms walked casually out of the main building of the jail. Another guard passed them and they nodded their hellos. They reached a car and got in. The older of the men removed the sunglasses and took off his hat as they drove away, turning back to salute the building with a wolfish smile.

"Now Stanley," He said and turned back. "For the rest of the plan."

"Yes, Mr. Dunne." Stanley replied, smiling back at his mentor.

----------------------------

"Julie, baby. It's 8 o'clock. You have to go to bed now." Veronica picked up her daughter. "Look, it's all dark outside."

Mr. Jones put down his fork and got up.

"I'll just…" He started, but was stopped by Veronica holding up a hand.

"You've secured this house ten times already." She said to him, smiling down at her daughter. "I think we can manage getting this little one into bed without your help. You just finish your dinner."

"Ok." He looked at her. "Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?"

"Yeah," Veronica smiled. "I think I can handle it."

The doctor left the room and carried her daughter upstairs to the bedroom. The girl had her own room, but Veronica preferred to have her close by as long as this case was open. She walked into the darkened room, reaching for the light switch as she closed the door behind her.

"It's been too long, Veronica."

The voice from her nightmares greeted her. She was so surprised to see Dunne sitting in a chair in the middle of her bedroom that she didn't have time to scream before a hand was held over her mouth, silencing her effectively.

She watched horrified as Dunne slowly got up, shaking her head viciously as he took the baby from her arms. She struggled desperately, trying as hard as she could to escape of the grip the other person in the room to get to her daughter and keep him from hurting her.

"She looks just like you, my sweet Veronica." Dunne mused, looking down at the child in his arms. He nodded to the person behind her. She felt a sharp pain in the back of her head before the darkness swept over her.

-------------------------------

"Bridget?" The Governor knocked on his daughter's door. "It's 8.15, dinnertime."

He waited, knocking again when she didn't answer.

"Bridget?" He knocked harder. "Are you sleeping? Please open the door." He tried to open the door but found that it was locked. "Bridget! Open the door." He shouted.

Two guards came running up to the distressed man. "What's going on, Governor?"

"She's not answering me."

"Stand back, Sir." One of them said. "We'll take it down."

He stepped back and gave them room to work. They pulled out their weapons ready for action and kicked in the door. Rushing in with guns held high, they searched the room but found it empty.

"No one here, Sir."

"Oh, God." The Governor walked into the room carefully and noticed the open window. "He's got her."

He turned and hurried down the stairs to the phone, dialling 9-1-1.

"This is Governor Lavisham. My daughter has been kidnapped."

----------------------------

"When are you going into work again, mom?" Lindsey asked as she curled up next to her mother on the couch.

"In a couple of hours." Catherine looked at her watch. She enjoyed the closeness she was sharing with her daughter and was sad it would have to end so soon. "Are you absolutely sure that you only want a small party for your birthday?" She asked.

"You've asked me that like ten times already, mom." Lindsey said with a dramatic sigh. "I'm sure."

"Who do you want to invite then? We could make the invitations now."

"Claire, Valerie and Beth from school." Lindsey told her. "And Grandma, Sam, Aunt Nancy and Cousin Jeremy, of course. Oh, and Benjamin too cause he's Aunt Nancy's boyfriend."

"Since when do you call Jeremy Cousin Jeremy?" Catherine asked, amused.

"Since I watched The Addams Family." Lindsey answered with a grin. "You know, like Cousin It."

"Lindsey Willows, that's just mean." Catherine said, but couldn't help laughing.

"I only call him that when he's not around to hear it." Lindsey defended herself.

"Ok." Catherine looked down at her daughter. "I don't think it's a good idea to keep calling him that though."

"Ok mom." Lindsey gave in without a fight. She was enjoying the time spent alone with her mother too much to ruin it with a silly argument.

"Anyone else you want to invite?" Catherine asked, relieved that they weren't going to have a dispute over the issue.

"Grissom, Nick, Warrick, Greg and Sara."

"The guys from work?"

"Yeah," Lindsey looked down at her hands. "I just figured… they're your friends. And then when I have fun with my friends, you can have fun with your friends."

"That's a really nice thought, Linds." Catherine drew her in for a hug. "But it's your birthday, it's all about you."

"I still want to invite them." Lindsey said honestly.

"Ok." Catherine held the girl a little longer before sitting back to look at her. "Linds, we need to talk about something else too."

"What?"

"Well…" Catherine paused, not quite knowing how to start this conversation. "I've met someone."

"You've got another boyfriend?" Lindsey asked, drawing back from her mother.

"No… Not exactly…" Catherine reached out holding onto one of the girl's hands.

"Then why are you telling me that you've met someone?" Lindsey's voice was getting angrier.

"It's someone we both know. I really like this person, and I really want you to be ok with me dating them." Catherine tried to explain.

"Why are you talking like that?" Lindsey asked a little quieter. "Someone? This person? Them?"

"Because it's Sara." Catherine looked at her daughter, wanting her reaction to the news.

"Sara?" Lindsey looked back at her mother with her mouth hanging open.

"Yes. You'll be 13 soon and I think you're old enough to hear about this…" Catherine started but was interrupted by Lindsey.

"Sara you work with?" She asked.

"Yes." Catherine kept eye contact with the girl. "What do you think of all this?"

"She is kinda…" Lindsey paused, trying to find the right word, "…pretty, I guess." She settled on, looking at her mother.

"She is." Catherine smiled at the answer. "But are you ok with me dating her?"

"I guess." Lindsey looked at their joined hands. "But will that mean that we don't have time for this anymore?"

"I'll always have time for you, honey. No matter who I date." She held Lindsey close as relief washed over her. "I have the best daughter in the world." She said, kissing the head pressed to her chest.

"Good thing I wanted to invite her then, huh?" Lindsey smiled.

"You're a smartass too, you know that?" Catherine said, poking her in the side, ready to start a tickle match when her cell phone rang. She reached for it with a sigh. "Willows."

"It's Sofia. Dunne escaped from jail."

"Shit! I'll be right there. Call the guys and meet me in the conference room."

"Sure. Bye."

"Wait." Catherine stopped the detective from hanging up. "I'll tell Sara."

"Ok."

"Bye." Catherine hung up and looked back at her daughter. "I have to go." She told the little blonde.

"Ok." Lindsey tried to hide her disappointment.

"I'm sorry, sweetie." Catherine hugged her quickly. "Get your stuff and I'll drive you to Grandma's."

----------------------------

Sara checked through the peephole to see who was knocking at her door before answering.

"Catherine, I didn't expect to see you until later." She said with a big smile. "Come on in." She opened the door wider.

"Sara." Catherine stepped closer and placed a hand on the brunette's arm. "Dunne has escaped from jail."

"What?" Sara went white. She stared at Catherine for a second before running back into the apartment for her phone. Dialling a number, she held the phone to her ear.

"_Hello." A woman answered._

"Veronica?" Sara almost shouted.

"_She's gone, Sara." Kimberly cried into the phone. "Veronica and Julie are gone." She sobbed into the receiver. "Hello?" A male voice asked, having taken the phone from the distraught detective._

"Who are you?" Sara asked, falling to her knees.

"_Mr. Jones." The voice answered. "We need CSI over here a.s.a.p."_

"Yes." Sara whispered. "We're on our way."

She hung up the phone and looked at Catherine who was still standing in the doorway.

"He has her." Was all she could say before breaking down crying.


	27. Casa de Veronica

Here is the next chapter for you. Thank you so much for the reviews you have given, I hope you will review on this part as well.

Thank you Lady J again for being the best beta in the world! And for keeping the ducks on your side of the ocean, I haven't seen them in a while.

**Chapter Twenty Seven**

**Casa de Veronica**

"Oh sweetie." Catherine stepped closer to Sara, wanting to provide some sort of comfort.

The brunette held up a hand stopping her. She took a few deep cleansing breaths.

"He's got her, Catherine." She repeated after getting her breathing under control. She wiped the tears from her eyes, willing herself to stop crying and keep a distance from the information she had just been given.

"We'll find…" Catherine was interrupted by her phone ringing. "Willows."

"_Catherine, it's Brass. Bridget Lavisham is gone. I'm at the house, we need CSI assistance right now."_

"He's got Veronica Lavisham too." Catherine informed the captain. "I'll have to get Grissom in on this."

"_Just send people over here," Brass told her, "I'll get Sofia to the other scene."_

"I'll send Nick and Warrick over." Catherine told him, hanging up the phone.

"He got Bridget too?" Sara asked, having gotten a hold of herself and seeming completely calm.

"Yes."

"I'll go there with Nick."

"Sara…"

"I have to help with this, Catherine."

"You touch any of the evidence over there it will be contaminated and consequently thrown out of court." Catherine looked at her sympathetically. "You're too close to this now."

"I can't just sit here!" Sara argued, loosing the cool she was trying so hard to maintain.

"Even if I say ok to this, Grissom will have you removed the second he's up to date." Catherine stepped closer, holding out her hand.

Sara turned away from the blonde. "I have to do something, I can't just…"

"It's ok to cry, Sara." Catherine tried to get through to the brunette. "Your best friend has been kidnapped."

"I'll be alright here, Catherine." Sara said to her with her back still turned. "Go do your job. Go solve this."

"Sara…"

"Just go!" Sara took a deep breath. "Get her back. Get all three of them back safely… Please."

"Ok." Catherine stepped back. "I'll call and keep you updated."

"I'll probably go to the lab and wait there." Sara told her without turning around.

"Right." Catherine dialled a number on her phone. "I'll see you later then."

"Sure."

Catherine hit the call button as she walked out of the apartment. She turned around to take one last look at Sara who was now hiding her head in her hands, sobbing. Her heart was breaking for the brunette, but the only thing she could do to help her right now was to work the case. She instinctively knew that Sara wouldn't accept physical comfort at the moment; that she needed to be alone with her grief.

"Warrick? I need you and Nick to go to Governor Lavisham's residence. His daughter has been kidnapped."

-------------------------

"Hi Grissom." Catherine walked up to the man standing outside Veronica's house. "Wow, this is a very impressive house." She stated, looking up at the large building.

"Yes." Grissom agreed.

"A place like this should have the best alarm systems around."

"It does." Grissom looked at her. "I checked."

"There were three guards on the daughter, four on Veronica and a top security system on top of that. How the hell did they even get to her, let alone get her out of the house without anyone noticing anything?" Catherine asked incredulously.

"That's what we're here to find out." Grissom answered, walking up to the door. "Hello, Sofia."

"Grissom." Sofia nodded at Catherine. "Catherine."

"Sofia." Catherine walked up to the two of them. "How could this happen? They got not one but both of the girls we were supposed to be protecting."

"I don't know." Sofia sighed, looking back inside the house. "She disappeared from her bedroom."

"Who discovered that she was gone?" Catherine asked.

"A Walter Jones." Detective Curtis told them. "Apparently Shaw called at 8.11 to talk to Veronica, but she was putting their daughter to bed. Jones went upstairs to get her, but found the bedroom empty."

"The child sleeps in her bedroom?" Grissom asked.

"Just as long as this case is going on." A dishevelled looking Kimberly said, appearing behind Sofia. "She wanted Jules close by for as long as there was a threat against her. Veronica worries a lot, and keeping the baby in the bedroom saved her from getting up to check on her every half hour."

"I'll take the bedroom." Grissom said, stepping past the two women at the door.

"Yeah." Catherine stopped next to Shaw and placed a comforting hand on her arm. "I'll just hear what Kimberly has to say and then I'll do the perimeter."

"Good." Grissom turned on his flashlight and pointed it up the stairs. "Up there?"

"I'll show you." Sofia said, and went up ahead of him.

"I'm so sorry, Kim." Catherine told the detective when the two had left.

"It's not your fault." Kim answered, and walked back into the house.

The blonde followed her into a large living room where two other people were waiting. Kimberly sat down on the couch next to Benjamin and Catherine sat down beside her.

"I need to know what happened." She said gently.

"I don't know what happened." Kimberly started crying again. "I wasn't here."

"She told you to go to work." Benjamin placed an arm around her, trying to comfort her.

"Were you here?" Catherine asked the man.

"No, I was here this afternoon, but she made me go back to Nancy to spend some time with her and Jeremy. She said she felt like she'd taken up enough of my time the last couple of days." The tears started running silently down his cheeks.

"I was here with two of the uniforms." The other man in the room spoke up. "Dr. Lavisham…"

"Christiansen!" Kimberly corrected him angrily. "Dr. Christiansen."

"Dr. Christiansen had made dinner and told us to stay down here and finish it. I offered to go with her but she told me to just relax and finish my meal. We had checked the premises fifteen minutes earlier and everything was normal."

"So you stayed down here and finished dinner." Catherine stated. "When was this?"

"A few minutes to 8."

"And when did Detective Shaw call?"

"8.10."

"And then what happened?"

"I went upstairs to the bedroom to get Dr. La… Christiansen, but the door was locked. I proceeded to call out for her and when she didn't answer I called the officers downstairs for backup and kicked in the door."

"And then what?" Catherine asked.

"We secured the premises and found that both Dr. Christiansen and her daughter were gone."

----------------------------

"Grissom." Catherine looked at the broken door as she walked into the bedroom.

"The door has been broken down." He stated the obvious.

"Yeah. Our Mr. Jones did that." Catherine told him. "Are you getting anything in here?"

"This was not your fault, Catherine." Grissom stood up from his crouched position and walked over to her.

"It was my case." Catherine told him. "I should have done more."

"You can't solve a crime that hasn't been committed." Grissom told her.

"I could have solved the one that had." Catherine countered.

"Did you follow every piece of evidence?"

"Of course I did."

"And did you get anything probative from that?"

"Nothing but speculations." Catherine sighed.

"Then this wasn't your fault." Grissom said with a smile, walking back to his kit. "And this is still your case." He added.

"Yeah?" Catherine asked.

"Yes." Grissom confirmed.

"I'll go have a look outside then." She turned and went outside.

----------------------------

"Did you find anything?" Catherine walked up to Grissom who was stood looking up at the house.

"Yes." He answered. "I've got hairs, fibres, prints. It looks like they're not afraid to leave anything behind anymore."

"Yeah," Catherine agreed. "I found a ladder and foot prints under the window." She pointed at a wall in the back of the garden that separated the house from the neighbour's house. "It looks like they got in down there and left the same way."

"Clever." Grissom noted. "Break into a one garden to get into the garden you really want to get into."

"We should get this stuff back to the lab." Catherine took one last look around the garden before turning around. "I'll meet you back there."

"Yes." Grissom turned around as well and walked behind her out of the garden and towards the cars.

In the car, Catherine pulled out her phone and dialled a familiar number. Waiting for it to be picked up she tapped her nails on the dashboard.

"_Sidle." A croaky voice answered._

"It's me. How are you holding up?"

"_I'm ok." Sara answered flatly._

"Ok." Catherine didn't buy that, but let it slide. "I'm on my way back from Veronica's. Where are you?"

"_I'm still at home."_

"Are you coming by the lab?"

"_I don't know."_

"You want me to come by your place?"

"_You should work the case."_

"I wish there was something I could do for you." Catherine said softly.

"_Get them back."_

"I'll do my best."

"_I should let you get back to work."_

"Sara…" Catherine couldn't finish her sentence before Sara interrupted her.

"_I'll talk to you later." She said and hung up the phone._

"Damn." Catherine punched the steering wheel and leaned back in the seat. Sara had sounded so detached. Taking a deep calming breath she turned the key in the ignition and drove towards the lab.


	28. Going Through The Motions

Again I am sorry for not posting sooner, but it seems that I have quite a few family obligations right now, so I'm visiting my parents a lot. I can't say that I will post the next chapter sooner, but I will try. Thank you all for the reviews, and I hope you will like this chapter as well and review that too.

Lady J, you are as always the best! Thank you so much for betaing this for me.

Enjoy…

**Chapter Twenty Eight**

**Going Through The Motions**

"Hey Brass." Warrick greeted the captain as he walked up to him.

"Warrick." Brass looked over at Nick who walked behind Warrick, looking up at the impressive mansion. "Nick."

"Hi Brass." Nick stepped up next to the two other men and looked into the house, not seeing anyone in the hall.

"Girl's room is upstairs." Brass explained. "Parents, brother and sister are in the living room, guards in the kitchen."

"You get their statements yet?" The Texan asked.

"The guards make their rounds every 30 minutes. They didn't see anything." Brass sighed. "I haven't gotten to the parents yet, but I'll get those while you do your thing." He said, walking back into the house.

"You want inside or outside?" Warrick asked.

"Doesn't matter to me." Nick replied.

"Hey guys." Greg walked up to them.

"Greg?" Nick turned around surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Gris sent me. He wants you…" He pointed at Nick. "To go process Burns' apartment."

"'Kay," Nick picked up his kit and turned back towards his car, "I'll see you guys later."

"Guess it's just you and me then." Greg said, looking expectantly at Warrick.

"Yeah." Warrick looked up at the house. "You take the outside and I'll take the girl's room."

"Sure." Greg picked up his kit and went to work.

"And Greg…" Warrick waited until Greg had turned around to look at him. "This isn't just a high profile case, it's also close to Sara - make sure everything you do is according to protocol."

"Yeah." Greg wasn't offended, he knew that he was still new and learning. He was just happy that he could help.

"And you just call if you need help with anything, better safe than sorry, alright?"

"Yeah, man." Greg turned and started walking towards the garden again. "I know where to find you."

"Good." Warrick smiled and went into the house. He knew that Greg was good, but he was still new to the job. He himself knew what it was like to have evidence thrown out of court because of some small technicality; he didn't want Greg to learn that the hard way. Definitely not on a case that involved Sara, who was unofficially in charge of the young man's training.

-------------------------------

Sara stayed where she was as Catherine left, waiting to hear the door close behind the blonde before she broke down crying. Dunne had gotten to Veronica and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. She hadn't been able to protect Veronica from him and now she wasn't allowed to work the case.

She knew Catherine was right; that if she collected any of the evidence it was a great opportunity for a defence attorney to claim that the evidence had been tampered with. She knew that, but she still wanted - needed - to do something other than stay at home alone crying. She was happy that Catherine hadn't tried to comfort her; she couldn't deal with the physical contact right now. The only touch she was used to when crying was of one of her parents' fists. The fact that she had allowed Catherine to hold her at the prison was surprising to her, it had been a welcome surprise, but this time she couldn't allow to take up any of Catherine's time – she needed the blonde to work the case and solve it. Now she knew how Catherine had felt when she worked on Eddie's case - helpless, hopeless and weak.

As her crying subsided she sat down on the couch, staring into thin air. She tried hard to think of anything that could help to locate Dunne and his victims, but knew it was useless. She knew how much forensics helped in situations like these, but also how much luck played a part as well.

She looked at her watch. She had called Veronica at 8.30 and it was now 9.15 – they had been gone for about an hour. The first 48 hours were always critical in a kidnapping. She started her own countdown: 47 hours and counting. She began crying silently again. This kidnapping was different - the kidnapper had been obsessed with his victim for 12 years. The odds that Veronica was alive were good, the odds of her not being hurt were not, the odds of them finding her were… She stopped herself from finishing the thought. They would find them, they had to. They were the best lab in the country, if anyone could find them it would be her friends. She was shook out of her thoughts as her phone rang.

"Sidle." Her voice was raspy from the crying.

"_It's me. How are you holding up?" Catherine asked worriedly._

"I'm ok." Sara answered flatly. She didn't want the other woman worrying about anything other than the case.

"_Ok." She could tell that Catherine didn't buy it, and was happy when the blonde let it slide. "I'm on my way back from Veronica's. Where are you?"_

"I'm still at home."

"_Are you coming by the lab?"_

"I don't know." What could she do at the lab other than sit in a corner not touching anything, not doing anything actually helpful regarding the case?

"_You want me to come by your place?" She could tell by the tone of Catherine's voice that she was worried about her._

"You should work the case."

"_I wish there was something I could do for you." Catherine said softly, almost making the brunette cry again._

"Get them back." She managed to get out.

"_I'll do my best."_

"I should let you get back to work." She needed to get of the phone.

"_Sara…" Catherine started, but Sara cut her off._

"I'll talk to you later." She said, and hung up the phone.

She held her head in her hands, taking slow calming breaths to stop herself from crying again, when there was a knock on the door. Picking up her gun from the counter she looked though the peephole in the door and saw two uniformed cops she didn't recognise.

"Who is it?" She asked, not opening the door.

"Officer Chase and Jenkins." One of the police officers answered. "Captain Brass sent us."

"Just a sec." Sara told them, walking back to the couch and picking up her phone to dial Brass' number. "I need to check you guys are legit."

"Sure, Ma'am." The other officer answered, waiting patiently outside the door.

"_Brass."_

"Brass, it's Sara. Did you send two uniforms to my place?"

"_Yeah," Brass confirmed. "Better safe than sorry."_

"I guess." Sara said, opening the door and gesturing for the cops to come inside.

"_I'd like you to go either to the lab or the precinct, just to make absolutely sure that you're ok." Brass told her._

"Why?" Sara asked dejectedly. "There's nothing I can do on this case."

"_Look kid, you know Dunne better than any of us." Brass told her. "You can help prove or disprove our theories. Every little thing helps – you know that better than anyone."_

"Ok." Sara glanced at the two officers as they looked around her apartment. "I'll see you at the lab then."

"_Be careful." Brass told her sternly._

"I will." Sara hung up the phone and turned towards the cop who had stayed in the living room with her. "We're going to the crime lab." She informed him and started gathering her things.

----------------------------------

Walking into the lab, Catherine quickly delivered all her evidence to the appropriate technicians. After having done this she went to her office to get the files she needed for the meeting they were having as soon as the rest of the team returned to the lab. Just as she was ready to go, a police officer knocked on her door.

"Yes?" She looked up at her.

"CSI Brown had us check up on some people." The woman said. "I have the file here, but since he's not there they told me to give it to you."

"Yes, thank you." Catherine got up and took the folder the officer handed her. "Anything useful on Stanley Burns?"

"Just some background information, ma'am. Nothing that stands out." The female cop told her. "No parking or speeding tickets, no arrests – nothing like that."

"Ok." Catherine sighed. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." The cop left her alone.

The blonde went through the file but found nothing useful. The PD had checked Burns' apartment right after the escape to see if he and Dunne had gone there, but found nothing. There were no other addresses in his file, so they had nowhere else to check. All they could hope for was for the evidence they had collected to lead them somewhere and that Nick had found anything in the apartment that could lead them to the two and their victims. She left her office and went towards the conference room that they had made their main gathering place for this case. On the way there she ran into Brass.

"Brass." She called out to him.

"Catherine."

"Did you get anything from the Lavisham residence? Please tell me you got something." She asked, catching up with him.

"Nothing solid yet." Brass told her. "We're still canvassing both neighbourhoods hoping to find anyone who might have noticed strange cars or something like that around."

"Let's hope someone has. We need all the luck we can get right now." She went towards the conference room but realized the captain didn't follow her. "Aren't you coming for the meeting, Jim?"

"Yeah," He looked back at her. "I'll just go get Sara first."

"Sara?" Catherine stepped up next to him again. "Sara is here?"

"Yes." He nodded. "She agreed to come in when I asked her to."

"She did?" Catherine walked along with him. "She told me she probably wasn't going to stop by."

"I think she changed her mind when I sent over two uniforms to protect her." Brass said with a grin.

"She does like her privacy." Catherine mused. _'I just didn't think she'd want that from me anymore.'_ "Would you mind if I go get her?" She asked the man.

"No, be my guest." Brass turned and started walking back towards the conference room. "She should be in the break room."

----------------------------

Driving down the highway towards the desert, Dunne turned towards his companion.

"Switching to this van was good planning, Stanley." He smiled and patted the other man on the shoulder.

"Thank you, Sir." Stanley replied with a wide smile, feeling very proud of himself.

"It has enough room for our entire family." Dunne looked back at Veronica, Bridget and Julie who were tied up on the floor in the back of the van. He laughed a little at Veronica's attempts at keeping Julie from falling around too much. "Good planning indeed, Stanley." He repeated as he turned forward again, looking out at the night sky.


	29. Never Gonna Happen

Here's the next chapter for ya. Hope you'll enjoy and review it. Thanks for the reviews on chapter 28. I'll be going on vacation Sunday and stay away for at least a week, so this is the last update before that. Hope you will all forgive me for that. Oh and for the record, I am not a doctor, so I don't know if some of the things I have written in this chapter are true.

Lady J, you are the best beta in the world, no in the universe. Thank you for making all my stories better.

**Chapter Twenty Nine**

**Never Gonna Happen**

"Knock, knock." Catherine said, knocking on the door to the break room.

"Catherine?" Sara looked up. "What are you doing here?"

"I work here." Catherine smiled.

"Right." Sara looked down at her folded hands. She knew that the blonde was trying to cheer her up a little, but she didn't have the energy to play along.

"Sorry." The other woman sat down beside Sara on the couch. "Bad joke."

"It's ok." Sara didn't look at her.

"No it's not." Catherine placed her hand in between the brunette's folded hands and looked up at her two bodyguards. "Could you leave us alone please?"

"We'll be right outside." Officer Jenkins informed them.

"I just wanted to make you feel a little better, Sara. I know how hard this is - I can see it on you."

"Catherine, you need to your focus to be entirely on this case." Sara said, looking down at their joined hands.

"No. I need to split my focus between the case, Lindsey and you." Catherine said. "I always have lots of balls in the air, that's just how I do things. That's how I work. That's how I deal with everything I see in this job. You're pulling away from me… Please don't pull away from me."

"What? You just love me so much all of a sudden?" Sara let go of the blonde's hand and got up.

"No," Catherine followed her. "But I would like the chance to find out if I could." She added softly.

"You don't understand." The brunette turned around facing her. "Veronica was taken on my watch!" She pointed at her own chest. "And I couldn't prevent her getting hurt this time, either! My watch, Catherine!"

"No. I'm the primary. He got her on _my_ watch."

"Semantics."

"Sara, I care about you. I want to help yo…"

There was a knock on the door and Grissom looked in.

"Sara, can I talk to you for a second before the meeting?"

"Sure." The brunette looked at him questioningly.

"I'll wait outside for you." Catherine said and left the two alone.

"I know I'm not allowed to work this case." Sara started when she was alone with her supervisor.

"Good," Grissom smiled. "But that wasn't what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Then what?"

"I know this is hard for you and I want to help you. Maybe when this is over we can go to dinner and talk about it?"

"You're asking me out?"

"Yes."

"On a date?"

"Yes." The old man nodded with a smile.

"You're asking me on a date while my best friend in the world, her daughter _and _her sister are kidnapped?"

"Well," Grissom paused. "Yes."

"No." Sara shook her head.

"No?"

"Never gonna happen Grissom. How insensitive can you be? I'm hurting here, and you just…" She turned away from him. "Besides, I'm seeing someone else. Someone I've wanted to be with for so long, who pushes me to the limit but not beyond it. I could love her so easily if I just let myself."

"Her?" Grissom croaked.

"Yes." Sara nodded and looked out at Catherine who was talking to the two guards in the hall. "You were always the distraction, Grissom. It was so easy to pretend that you were the one and avoid facing my true feelings - knowing how she would challenge me like no one else could. How she could give me the kind of life that I have never had, but always believing that I would never stand a chance with her. But I do have a chance with her, and I'm not going to ruin that. I deserve happiness. I could never get that with you." She walked past him. "I have to go." She left the man alone and joined Catherine in the hall.

"You ok?" The blonde asked.

"I am now." Sara took a hold of the other woman's hand. "Let's go to that meeting."

They walked down the corridor hand in hand.

"You know people are going to know now, right?" Catherine asked, squeezing Sara's hand lightly. "Or at least suspect."

"That's the least of my worries right now." Sara told her. "I need your support right now." She added.

"You have it." Catherine squeezed her hand again, signalling that she was alright with people knowing as well. "So what did Grissom want?"

-------------------------------

"We'll leave you here for now." Dunne told the two women. "We all need to rest a little." He walked out holding Julie on one arm.

"Charles." Veronica spoke up and stopped him.

"What is it my sweet?"

"Please leave Julie here with me." She pleaded.

"Why would I do such a thing?" He looked at the crying little girl.

"She's scared, Charles." Veronica hoped to convince him by using his name.

"I'm glad you remember I prefer the name Charles." He mused.

"Please, Charles." She begged again. "It would mean so much to me. Please, for me – leave her here."

"You have learned how to beg, I see." He said looking down at her. "It does suit you, and it will make my job so much easier." He turned around to leave again.

Veronica knew she couldn't let him walk away with her daughter - she knew how impatient the man was. With the little girl being as scared as she was, the chances of her stopping crying any time soon was low, and who knew what he would do when he got tired of listening to that. She thought fast and made one last attempt at persuading him.

"The Lord gave her to me to protect." She lied to him. "She is yours and mine, but if you take her now she will always be scared of you and you will have let down Our Father." She prayed with every fibre of her being that going to his level of insanity would help.

He hesitated in the doorway, seemingly debating internally whether or not to believe her. Finally he put Julie down on the floor and closed the door behind him. Veronica rushed over to the little girl, picking her up and holding her close.

"Don't even think about escaping, girls." He said through the door. "You have nowhere to go if you even get out of this room."

Neither of the girls answered him, they just looked at each other. Bridget hadn't said a word since she had woken up in the van and Veronica was worried about the young woman, but she couldn't help her until she had made sure that her daughter was ok.

----------------------------

"Grissom uhm…" Sara hesitated. "Grissom asked me out."

"He what?" Catherine stopped abruptly and turned towards the brunette. "Your best friend is missing and he asks you out?" She asked incredulously.

"Yes," Sara nodded. "That pretty much sums it up."

"And?" Catherine asked.

"And I said no… Of course." Sara looked at the blonde.

"Yeah?" Catherine looked relieved, but needed to make sure.

"Yeah." Sara nodded and squeezed the other woman's hand playfully. "I'm dating you now, right?" When Catherine nodded she continued. "Well, who in their right mind would date him when they have a chance with you?"

Catherine smiled brightly and gave the brunette a short hug, but when she pulled back Sara held on, keeping Catherine in the embrace. She settled back into the hug, nuzzling the nape of the other woman's neck with her fingers to comfort her.

"We'll find them, sweetie." She whispered. "I promise that we will all do everything we can to get them back safely."

"Safely, but not unharmed." Sara whispered against her neck.

"I…" Catherine knew the other woman was right. "I'm sorry." She caught movement out of the corner of her eyes and looked over to see who was coming down the corridor. She caught Grissom's eyes as he stopped at the sight of the two of them together. She watched as he put two and two together and realization hit him. She couldn't be bothered to feel sorry for him though, he had had his chance and blown it. She wouldn't be that stupid, she thought as she held on tighter to the other woman. "We need to get to that meeting." She whispered to the brunette and loosened her grip.

"I know." Sara let go as well and looked the shorter woman in the eyes. "Thanks again."

"Anytime." Catherine took her hand again and led her towards the conference room, leaving Grissom alone in the corridor.

----------------------------

An hour later, Veronica finally felt her daughter calm down and fall asleep against her chest. Bridget was sitting next to them on a small bed looking into thin air. The doctor put the little girl down and tucked her under the covers and kneeled down in front of her little sister; the baby sister she hadn't seen since she was 4 years old.

"Bridget." She said, gently trying to get eye contact with her. The young woman was showing obvious signs of shock and didn't answer her. "Bridget." She said a little more forcefully, but still didn't get a response from her. "I'm sorry, but this is for your own good." She whispered and slapped her on the cheek, finally earning a response. She jumped to the side as the girl leaned forward and threw up. Holding her hair back with one hand and rubbing her back soothingly with the other, she gently spoke to her. "You've got to stay with me here, kid. I need all the help I can get. Come back to the land of the living, sweetheart."

"Mommy?" The distressed girl looked up at her.

"No, honey." Veronica sat down next to her putting an arm around her. "It's Veronica."

"Veronica." Bridget looked around the almost bare room confused. "Where are we?"

"I don't know." Veronica sighed.

"He got me, didn't he?" Bridget asked, crying silently. "The guy who killed Siobhan got me."

"Yes." Veronica nodded in confirmation. "And his partner got me and..." She looked at her sleeping daughter. "Julie."

"Oh God." Bridget started sobbing hysterically. Veronica tried her best to comfort her while trying desperately not to break down too. She had to stay strong for Julie. She couldn't let them hurt her child and she would do her very best to keep her sister protected as well.

"Bridget," She forced the girl to look at her. "Bridget, you have to stay strong for me. You have to pull yourself together. I promise I will do everything I can to protect you, but this is the worst situation we could possibly be in. We need to stick together to get out of this, do you understand me?"

"Yes." Bridget whispered, but she couldn't stop crying.

"Look at me." Veronica ordered as she looked down. It hurt the older woman to have to be so hard on her sister, but for them to have a chance to get away from the two men they had to be tough. "I need to ask you…" She paused dreading the question she had to ask. "Are you a virgin?"


	30. Planning

Here's the next chapter of the story. Thank you all again for the wonderful reviews, I hope you will like this chapter enough to review on it as well.

Lady J as always thank you very, very much. This wouldn't be nearly as good without you.

**Chapter Thirty**

**Planning**

"Ok." Catherine spoke up to start the meeting as Grissom entered the room as the last. "We have put a rush on all the samples we've collected tonight, but does anyone have anything solid we can go on for now?" She looked around the people gathered in the room and continued when none of them answered her. "Nick? Anything from Burns' apartment?"

"I found several blueprints there," Nick answered. "One of the prison – God only knows how he got a hold of that."

"He needed a backup plan in case they were recognized leaving the prison." Sara thought out loud.

"Yes, that's what I'm guessing too." Nick nodded. "He had blueprints of both Dr. Christiansen's and the Governor's houses, plus detailed descriptions of the surrounding areas. There was a fourth one as well, but I haven't had time to find out what house it is." He spread out the blueprint out on the table so they all could look at it. "There are no notes on that one."

"We need to call someone in with an expertise in this." Catherine said. "Nick, get on it."

"Now?" Nick looked at her for confirmation.

"Yes." She nodded, and the Texan left the room with the blueprint under his arm.

"What else do we have?" Catherine asked the room.

"We have prints." Warrick spoke up. "I only had time to run a couple of them, but they were a definite match to Dunne and Burns."

"Did we get anything from the jail?" Catherine continued, wanting all new information to be in the open.

"Dayshift covered the jail." Sofia informed them all, looking down at a folder in her hand. "They didn't find anything there except for Dunne's clothes. The guards didn't even notice them leave because Dunne was dressed as one of them, wearing shades and a hat. The 'shrine' on Dunne's wall was gone, so presumably he took it with him."

"What shrine?" Sara interrupted, looking at the blonde detective.

"The walls were full of paper clippings - articles about Dr. Christiansen, pictures cut from magazines, internet printouts; things like that." Sofia looked at her apologetically.

"How did he get access to all that?" Sara asked.

"He was allowed to read newspapers." Sofia told her. "Burns must have given him the rest of it."

"And no one thought of reporting that?" Sara asked, loosing her calm.

Sofia shook her head. "He was a model prisoner. He didn't give them any unnecessary trouble so they let it slide."

"Let it slide?" The brunette sat up straight in her chair. "They let it slide and now he has escaped and taken three people…" She stopped as she felt Catherine's hand covering her own and looked over at the blonde.

"I know." Catherine said, looking her in the eyes. "But there's nothing we can do about that now."

"The day shift did get the surveillance from the parking lot." Sofia continued when Sara seemed to have calmed down somewhat. "We have the licence plate for the car they used to escape in and put out an alert on it. There's nothing so far, but we have every person in law enforcement on the look for it. Everybody knows that they took a cop's wife and child - we will find that car."

-------------------------------

"Why?" Bridget asked, wanting to know the reason why her sister would ask that question.

"Because I need to know." Veronica didn't give anything away, thinking the truth would upset her younger sister too much.

"I'm…" Bridget paused.

"The truth, Bridge. I'm not going to tell mom and dad."

"No, I'm not a virgin. I had a steady boyfriend for two years and we…" She looked at her older sister. "You know… About six months ago. But we broke up three months ago."

"Ok." Veronica thought about their situation for a minute. She didn't know if her sister could handle hearing about what happened to her the first time she met Dunne - she hardly knew her and didn't know how she would react to the story. But wasn't it better to be prepared for what would possibly happen rather than being violated without any warning? She sighed deeply, tucking the blankets more securely around her daughter. She needed to tell her sister the truth and just hope that she wouldn't break down.

"Bridget…" She stopped to take the younger woman's hand in hers. "Bridget, eleven years ago I was assaulted, raped and almost killed by one of the men who kidnapped us." She continued to tell her story to her sister whilst keeping an eye on her daughter, making sure that she wouldn't wake up during her tale. She left out the darkest details, but made sure that Bridget knew how serious it had all been. "So, you see why this is not the best place in the world to be." She finished.

Bridget nodded slowly, trying to process the information she'd been given. She felt numb. She looked down at the sleeping form of the little girl on the bed.

"Will they…" She didn't finish the question, but looked so intently at the girl that Veronica got her meaning.

"Not as long as I'm still breathing." She swore. "No one will ever hurt my baby as long as I am alive."

"Are they going to kill us?"

Veronica sighed and looked at the young girl.

"I don't know, sweetie. I don't know." She put a comforting arm around the girl's shoulder. "But I'll do what ever I can to keep you two safe." She promised.

"No." Bridget turned and looked at her. "Don't let yourself be hurt because of me. We've already hurt you too much. I couldn't…"

"Shhh…" The doctor hugged her tightly to her. "You were never a part of that."

"But I never…"

"You were four." Veronica held her out at arms length and looked her in the eyes. "I never blamed you or Matthew or Anita. I've put it all behind me and once this is all over we will change things."

-------------------------------

"Are you sure we should be here?" Benjamin asked as Kimberly parked the car at the side of the street.

"We need to do something." Kimberly sat still looking out the front window. "My wife and child are gone and I need to do something to get them back."

"Yes, but here?" Benjamin looked out at the building. "What can you do here?"

"I'm not sure if _I_ can do anything." She looked over at him. "But you might be able to get something done."

"I haven't talked to them for years, Kimberly." He sighed. "She wants me to forgive them, but…"

"A rapist has your sister and…" She stopped, forcing herself not to cry again. "And your niece."

"What do we need from them?"

"We need people out looking for them. We need all the guards he can spare. I don't know what the hell we can do, but we at least have to try something."

"I know." He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder squeezing lightly to comfort her. He looked over at her again. "Do you love her?"

"What?" She looked at him, not believing that he could even ask that question.

"She wanted me to forgive you as well, but I need to know first. Do you love her?"

"Yes." She looked him straight in the eye. "I would switch places with her in a heartbeat."

"She wouldn't let you." He looked out at the big mansion before looking back at her. "If you ever treat her like that again, you and I are going to have a big problem."

"I won't." She promised.

"If we get them…" He was stopped by a hand on his arm.

"We _will_ get them back." She said vehemently. "Don't think in ifs. We will get them back." She opened the car door and jumped out of the car.

Benjamin sighed, but got out of the car as well, following her up the path to the door. He put a comforting arm around her shoulders as she rang the bell and looked up anxiously as the door was opened.

"Yes?" A young girl looked at them expectantly, as if it was completely normal to ring the bell in the middle of the night.

"I'm Benjamin Lavisham." Benjamin introduced himself. "I need to talk to my father."

"Please come in Mr. Lavisham." The girl opened the door so they could get in. "I'm so sorry about your sister."

"Thank you." Benjamin nodded. "This is her wife Kimberly."

"Her what?" The maid looked at him, obviously confused. "Miss Bridget is not married."

"Bridget?" Benjamin waited for the girl to continue, but before she had the chance to do so they were interrupted by a voice coming from the stairs.

"Benjamin?" A male voice asked.

"Matt?" The man looked up at his younger brother. "What is going on here?"

"Bridget has been kidnapped. Dad got Anita and I home right away to make sure that we won't be taken as well." The young man shrugged. "I don't think we will though. They seemed to be going straight for Bridge."

"God." Benjamin hid his head in his hands. "I can't believe this is happening."

"Anita is upstairs with mom." Matthew continued. "Dad's…" He made a helpless gesture with both hands.

"They took Veronica as well." Benjamin looked up at his younger brother who sat down on the stairs as the news hit him. The older man walked up to him and sat down, putting an arm around his shoulders. "And her little girl too."

----------------------------

"Ok. Everybody get back to your evidence." Catherine was about to close the meeting. "If anyone gets something solid, you call me. Communication is the keyword in this kind of situation. All the techs know that this is absolutely top priority…" She stopped and looked up as Ecklie walked into the room. "Can I help you, Conrad?" She asked.

"I need an update. The Sheriff and I have a press conference in an hour and I need to know how the case is going."

"Rick, Sofia." Catherine looked at them. "Will you take care of that?"

"Sure." They both got up and walked out of the room leaving Ecklie behind.

"Conrad, that was a sign for you to follow them." Catherine told him.

"I would like the update from the senior CSI, not those two." He pointed after them.

"Take it or leave it, Conrad. I have other pressing matters to attend to." Catherine dismissed him.

He turned towards Grissom with a huff.

"Gil?"

"Conrad."

"Will you do something about this!"

"I am not lead on this, Conrad. There's nothing I can do except work the case."

Ecklie huffed again, but disappeared out the door in search of Sofia and Warrick. He would have to deal with this insubordination later.

"Brass?" Catherine looked at the captain. "Do you have anything else?"

"Not yet." Brass said. "But I will get out canvassing along with the uniforms. Chase and Jenkins will stay on Sara, and the Governor's house is covered as well. Sofia will stay here to sort the statements."

"I can help with that." Sara spoke up. When Catherine was about to say something she quickly cut her off. "It's not evidence. There is no way I could change statements from witnesses, not even the best defence attorney can get the case thrown because of that."

"I was going to say that it was a good idea." Catherine told her with a small smile. "Gives you something else to think about."

"Oh." Sara sat back a little in her seat. "Ok. Yeah, I'll help Sofia then."

"Good." Catherine started gathering the files in front of her. "Greg, you go start processing the evidence from the Governor's house. Warrick will come and help you when he's done with Ecklie. Grissom, you and I will start on the evidence from Dr. Christiansen's house." As both men nodded and got up and left the room Catherine turned towards Sara. "Will you tell Warrick to go on with the evidence from the Lavisham house when he gets back?"

"Sure." Sara smiled. "Thanks for…" She paused trying to find the right words. "Letting me do this." She settled on.

"You're one of the best, Sara. We couldn't do it without you."

"I mean…" The brunette got up and took a hold of the blonde's hands. "Thanks for letting me blow off steam and just continue like it didn't happen. Thanks for keeping me grounded during all this." She looked directly at the other woman. She took a deep breath to get the courage to utter her next words. "I don't think I could go through this without you."


	31. The Car

Sorry for the long wait for this update, but I was offered a job for 2 weeks, and I had to take it to earn a little money. Hopefully I won't take too long posting the next chapter. I love reviews, so please feel free to leave some for me. And thank you for the ones on chapter 30.

Thank you for betaing for me, Jess. You are the best. And I'm running out of ways to thank you here…

**Chapter Thirty One**

**The Car**

Catherine walked down the corridor searching for Nick, having just left Sara to get started on the statements in the conference room. Despite their seriousness, the brunette's words had made her feel warm and tingly inside. She felt like the luckiest person alive to be the one that Sara had let in behind all of her defences. As she turned the corner she saw Nick in one of the labs talking to someone on the phone. She walked in without disturbing him, getting lost in thoughts waiting for him to finish.

Things had developed fast between her and Sara in the last couple of days, not that she minded really. She had always been the type to jump into things without thinking too much about the consequences. Sure, she'd had a scare with Adam Novak, but that had been different, she would never have considered a relationship with him – with Sara she would. Hell, she was already in a relationship with the other woman as far as she was concerned, despite the fact that they hadn't even been on a date or even had sex yet. Sex – she wasn't sure that it would be just that with the brunette, they would make love.

The blonde smiled as the thought crossed her mind. Nick, still on the phone, smiled back thinking she was smiling at him.

The feelings she had for Sara had to have been buried somewhere in her subconscious for a long time, Catherine reasoned. There was no way that she could feel this strongly for her after barely a week, and she did feel very strongly for her. She didn't want to use the L word yet, but things were heading in that direction and she just hoped that Sara felt the same about her. She thought she did because she had been very open about her feelings since the case started. She had allowed Catherine to see her cry; a necessary part of life to the blonde, but the biggest sign of weakness to the brunette. And she had told her that she couldn't go through this terrible time without her. That had to mean that things were going in the right direction, right?

"Catherine?" Nick interrupted her train of thoughts.

"Yes," Catherine blinked him into focus. "Are you getting anything on the blueprint?"

"Nothing so far," Nick sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Hey, didn't you date a guy with some expertise in this kind of thing once?"

"Oh yeah, you're right, I did," Catherine suddenly remembered. "Paul Newsome. Here, let me find his number for you." She looked through the numbers stored on her cell and gave it to him. "Just tell him that I'd appreciate all the help he can give us – and it probably wouldn't hurt to mention that the Governor would as well."

"Right," Nick smiled, "I'll call him right away."

"Great. Call me as soon as you get anything." Catherine said as she left the room, headed towards the lab where Grissom was working. She wasn't really sure if now was the time for them to have a talk about Sara, a talk she wasn't looking forward to.

----------------------------

"Dad?" Benjamin knocked on the half opened door to the Governor's office. When nobody answered he opened the door fully and entered the dark room. "Dad?" He asked a little louder.

"What?" The Governor turned from where he was stood looking out the window, his voice flat and detached.

Benjamin turned on the lights and took a closer look at his father, whom for years he had seen only in papers and on TV. The man seemed to have aged overnight; his face had a greyish glow to it and he looked older than his years. His eyes had lost their usual sparkle, the same sparkle Benjamin had always seen in his twin sister's eyes. The thought of her made him speak up again.

"They took Bridget?" It was a rhetorical question really, but he had to get the conversation started somewhere.

"Yes." His father sighed in the same defeated tone of voice.

"They took Veronica as well."

"Oh God." The older man sat down in the chair behind his desk and hid his head in his hands.

"And Julie." Benjamin added.

"Julie?" The Governor looked up at him, the tears evident in his eyes. "Who is Julie?"

----------------------------

Veronica sat back down with a sigh. She had been trying to find a way out of the room, but without any luck.

"What are we going to do?" Bridget asked.

"We are going to think things over." Veronica answered. "The only chance we have of ever escaping this nightmare is if I can outthink him."

"How do you outthink a psychopath?" The younger woman asked, but was answered only with a shrug – Veronica didn't know.

----------------------------

Kimberly sat on a chair in the Lavisham living room. Matthew was sitting on the couch opposite her, but she had no idea what to talk to him about.

"So…" Matthew started. "You married my sister?"

"Yes." Kimberly nodded.

"How long have you been married?"

"Almost four years."

"Right." Matthew looked at his hands, before looking back up at her. "Is she happy?" He asked quietly.

Kimberly felt the tears pressing but willed them not to fall.

"We were getting back to happy." She answered truthfully.

"What do you mean, getting back to happy?" A new voice asked.

The detective looked around and found the person belonging to the voice.

"That's my other sister Anita." Matthew introduced. "Nita this is Kimberly, Veronica's wife."

The two women nodded in acknowledgement of each other, both sizing the other up.

"Well, are you going to answer my question?" Anita demanded.

"It's really none of your business." Kim told her.

"She's my sister; that makes it my business."

"You haven't been her sister for more than ten years!" Kimberly stood up, prepared for a fight.

"How dare you come here and…"

"Anita." An authoritative voice stopped her. "She's right. None of us have been a family to Veronica for a long time – too long."

Kimberly looked at the woman talking and saw, again, how her wife would look twenty years from now. How she would look if she… She shook her head dismissing the thought; that was how Veronica would look twenty years from now.

"It's nice meeting you again, Kimberly." Helen Lavisham held out her hand and Kim shook it. "May I call you Kimberly?"

"Yes," Kimberly sat back down. "Nice to meet you again Mrs. Lavisham."

"I just wish it was under better circumstances." Helen smiled sadly. "And please call me Helen."

"Yes, so do I," Kimberly nodded. "I just want them back."

"Them?" The older woman looked at her. "Oh God, did they get Veronica as well?" Tears fell silently down her cheeks.

"And Julie." The detective told them.

"Julie?" Helen looked at her. "Who's Julie?"

-------------------------------

"Hi." Sofia sat down next to Sara with a sigh.

"How did it go with Ecklie?" Sara asked.

"He was being an ass as usual." Sofia responded, making a face. "Did you find anything here yet?"

"Not really," Sara said. "I'm just getting started myself."

"Look, Sara…" Sofia started as she was looking through a stack of papers. "If you need to talk about anything, I'm here to listen."

Sara looked up surprised.

"Really?" She couldn't help but ask.

"Really." Sofia looked up from the papers and met the brunette's eyes. "Maybe we started out not liking each other that much, but I'd like to think that's changed."

"It has." Sara stated. "And it's nothing personal, but I don't think I can open up to you just yet."

"That's ok." Sofia said with a smile. "Just promise me you won't keep it all bottled up inside. At least let Catherine comfort you a little."

"I am letting her…" Sara stopped abruptly and looked at the detective. "You knew?"

"It was obvious." Sofia said with a chuckle. "Now let's get on with this and catch those bastards." With that she started reading her papers again.

Sara looked at her once more before looking down at her own papers.

When had they been obvious?

----------------------------

"Julie's…" Benjamin sat down opposite his father. "Julie is Veronica's daughter."

"Oh God," The Governor started crying silently. "She has a daughter?"

"Yes." Benjamin nodded. "She's three and the most gorgeous little girl, and she has been kidnapped by psychopaths."

"My daughter has a daughter." The Governor mumbled to himself.

"Dad, we have to do something to get them back." Benjamin tried to get through the older man's grieving.

"But what can we do? Every police officer in town is out looking for them, what can we do?"

"You have men to protect you, you have money, you have influence. Don't tell me there's nothing you can do!"

----------------------------

The door opened slowly, revealing two dark shadows against the lights shining in though the doorway. They stood, silently watching the two women inside the room, ignoring the sleeping child.

"I think it is time for your first lesson, Stanley." One of the men said to the other as he stepped inside the room. "Go get your mate."

"Yes, Sir." The other man stepped into the room as well and walked towards a shaking Bridget.

"No!" Veronica stood up shielding her sister. "He can not take her, Charles."

"Now, now, Veronica. What kind of behaviour is that?" Dunne shook his head. "I thought you had learnt your lesson."

"He can't take her yet, Charles." Veronica stood firmly in place, not letting Stanley near Bridget.

"Move away from her now, Veronica, or I will have to move you myself. You cannot prevent her from seeing her true path."

"I'm not trying to do that, Charles. I'm trying to save you from making a mistake."

"Me making a mistake?" He looked at her laughing. "I never make mistakes."

"You are about to." Veronica challenged. "If you let him take her now, you will go against the word of the Lord."

"And how exactly will I do that?" He asked her, unbelievingly.

"They are not married." Veronica stated.

"That girl was made for Stanley by the good Lord." Dunne countered.

"They have not been lawfully wed in the house of God." Veronica hoped that she was convincing him. "They have not been blessed by a servant of God."

"They have been blessed by me!" Dunne shouted.

"Is that how you will defend this blasphemy when you face Him?" Veronica shouted back.

-------------------------------

"Julie is our daughter." Kimberly said quietly, not succeeding at keeping the tears at bay this time around. "She's three. She's my little angel and she's missing."

"Daughter?" Helen looked at the distraught woman. "I'm a grandmother?"

Kim could only nod.

"Do…" The older woman bit back a sob. "Do you have a picture of her?"

"Yes." Kimberly took out a photo from her purse. "This is the newest one I have of her. It was taken two months ago, at Christmas." She handed it to the woman.

Helen Lavisham looked intently at the photo.

"She looks just like Veronica." She smiled through tears. "Do you want to see pictures of her when she was a child?" She asked the detective.

-------------------------------

"Curtis." Sofia answered her phone. She listened to what the caller had to say. "Yes, I'll be right there. Secure the premises and start canvassing the area." She ordered as she finished the call.

Sara looked at her for an explanation.

"We found the car." Sofia told her.

"Go tell Catherine." Sara said, feeling a small ray of hope. "I'll continue with this." She gestured to all the statements they still had to work through.

Sofia nodded and ran out the door but doubled back.

"We will get them back, Sara." She said before vanishing again.

"I hope you're right." Sara whispered to herself.


	32. Eyes Only

Here's the next chapter, I hope you will enjoy it… (And review… Hint, hint…) Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter, I really appreciate you taking the time to do so.

Lady J, thank you for betaing, you are the best. And I'm looking forward to our little project. Fun, fun, fun…

**Chapter Thirty Two**

**Eyes Only**

"Gil." Catherine entered the lab where Grissom was working.

"Catherine." He didn't look up at her.

"Are we going to talk about this?" She asked, putting on her latex gloves.

"About what?"

"About Sara." Catherine wasn't going to let him off the hook.

"What about Sara?" He asked, not wanting to talk about it.

"Gil." Catherine sighed.

He looked up from what he was doing and looked at her questioningly.

"Sara and I are going to be a couple," she told him. "She's… she's become very important to me."

"I assume neither of you will let it interfere with your work, so I don't see what that has to do with me." Grissom continued with the evidence he was processing.

"For God's sake, Gil," Catherine threw up her hands. "One, you asked Sara on a date and she said no. Two, you and I are friends, and three, competing over the same woman isn't good for a friendship."

Grissom sighed and took off his glasses. "Catherine," he looked at her, "Sara has made it very clear to me that there's only one person for her and that person isn't me. There will be no competing."

"And our friendship?" Catherine inquired.

"Will stay the same." Grissom was already processing the evidence again.

Catherine looked at him disappointingly before starting to process evidence herself, and they continued to work in silence.

----------------------------------

"How dare you raise your voice to me?" Dunne slapped Veronica across the face.

"Mommy?"

Veronica held up her hand to her face and looked back at her little girl.

"It's ok, Baby." She said to her. "Bridget, pick her up and comfort her please."

Bridget did as she was told.

"Charles," Veronica turned towards her capturer again, "you cannot defend this to the Lord when it's your time to face him." She said quietly, not wanting her daughter see her get slapped again.

"You know nothing of the ways of the Lord. You are a mere woman, put on this earth only to please me, just as Bridget has been created to please Stanley."

"Says who? Did Stanley tell you or did you decide for him?" Veronica countered.

----------------------------

"Catherine," Sofia came in and interrupted the silence between the blonde and old man.

"Sofia," Catherine looked up. "Did you get anything?"

"A patrol car found Burns' car," Sofia told her, "I'm heading out now, we'll need CSI." She handed Catherine a slip with the address and left them again.

Catherine looked at the slip and then at Grissom. "I'll go to the car," She decided. "I'll bring Greg." She paused. "And Sara."

"Sara?" Grissom looked at her. "Catherine, you can't let your personal feelings…"

"I know, Gil," the blonde interrupted him, "but she needs this. It will be eyes only for her."

"I'm advising you against this."

"Thank you, but Sara is going." Catherine told him. "Will you keep things going here and call me if you get anything new?"

He nodded and she left the room in search of Sara.

----------------------------

"I will start making calls." The Governor straightened up in his chair. Two of his children and his… his granddaughter – he had a granddaughter. And they were all in danger. His son was right, he was a man of great influence, he could at least try doing something.

"Good," Benjamin nodded. "I'll go see how Kim is holding up." He got up and started leaving.

"Son," the older man spoke up.

Benjamin looked back at him.

"I'm sorry." He offered sincerely.

Benjamin nodded slowly and left the room. He had not forgiven his parents for what they had put his sister through, but he would try.

As he came into the living room he saw his mother sitting with Kimberly on one side and Anita and Matthew on the other side, looking through a photo album.

"Julie does look exactly like Veronica," Kimberly said, "I never realized just how much."

"She was such a beautiful child." Helen smiled. "She was so kind and sweet; always protecting the ones who couldn't protect themselves."

"She is still beautiful." Kimberly said softly. "And she still protects everybody, she always wants to save people. And now I can't do either for her."

"You already did." Benjamin spoke up. "She told me right before she…" He stopped.

The four on the couch looked over at him.

"She said that you were the only person who had ever made her feel completely safe. Not Dad, not Sara, not me – you."

"But I…"

"No!" Benjamin stopped her. "You make her feel safe. She will come back, because she has you to come back to. She's too damn stubborn to give up when her life was finally getting back to… when she had finally found you again."

Kimberly kept looking at him and finally she let the tears flow, finally she let herself break down. Her wife and child were missing and there was nothing she could do about it.

----------------------------------

"Sara."

The brunette looked up and saw Catherine standing in the doorway.

"Catherine."

They looked at each other for a couple of seconds. Catherine seemed to seek something in Sara's gaze. Finally she found what she was looking for, CSI Sidle had taken over, Sara had been pushed aside for now.

"We got the car." She told her.

"Yes, I know. I was here when Sofia got the call."

"Eyes only." Catherine told her as she turned to leave.

"What?" Sara looked at her backside, confused.

"You're coming," Catherine threw over her shoulder. "But eyes only. If I see you so much as think about touching a piece of evidence you're back to being a CSI level 1. Understood?"

Getting up and jogging up to the blonde, Sara nodded.

"Yes, Dear." She smiled. Finally it felt like they were getting somewhere.

Catherine chuckled, relieved. If Sara could joke a little then things were looking up.

"What about the statements?" Sara asked more seriously.

"I have arranged to have a couple of officers go through them." Catherine told her. "Chase and Jenkins will still be right behind you."

"Great," Sara sighed. "Why do I need them when I'm at a crime scene filled with cops and you?"

"Just because." Catherine replied, looking for Greg.

"That's not an answer, Catherine."

-------------------------------

"You cannot save her." Dunne backhanded her and she fell to the floor.

"You will not save yourself from eternal damnation if you let him take her now." Veronica didn't want to give up.

"Get her up!" Dunne ordered Stanley.

He took her roughly by the arm and dragged her to her feet.

"I will teach you not to disobey me," Charles said to her, his face only inches from hers. "You will learn where your place in life is." He kissed her roughly.

As he ended the kiss, she spat on the floor in disgust. "I will never succumb to you." She hissed.

"We will see about that." He smiled evilly and turned to Bridget. "You better keep that brat quiet if you know what is good for you." He said, pointing to a crying Julie.

"You want me to take care of it, sir?" Stanley asked.

"No!" Veronica stood in front of her sister and daughter. "You will not get near her as long as I am alive."

"Bring Veronica to my room. I will have to teach her a lesson." Dunne ordered and left the room.

"Yes, sir." Stanley grabbed her by the arm and forced her to follow Dunne.

"I love you, Julie. Mommy will be back soon. You stay with Bridget, ok?" Veronica tried her best not to sound as terrified as she was. Her worst nightmare was about to come true, again.

-------------------------------

Sara, Catherine and Greg arrived at the scene in record time. Walking towards the car Sara looked around at the neighbourhood, not really recognizing anything.

"Did you get anything from the canvass, Sofia?" Catherine asked the detective as they walked up to them.

"Nothing yet." She shook her head. "But we will get something. This is a residential area, someone has to have seen something. I'll get onto it now that you're here."

"Good." Catherine was already putting on her gloves. "Contact me as soon as you get anything."

"I will." The detective left them.

"Greg," Catherine looked up to see if she had his attention, "you do the perimeter. Anything looking the least bit out of place you bag and tag, got it?"

"Yes." Greg almost saluted her, but stopped himself just in time. "I'll get right on it."

"Greg." Sara stopped him.

"Yes?"

"Keep a good look out for tire tracks. Most likely they switched to another car here or somewhere near here."

"Got it." Greg started his investigations.

Sara walked closer to the car.

"Sara…" Catherine said warningly.

"I know, I know." Sara held up both hands in the air. "Eyes only."

"Good." The blonde put a hand on her arm a second in support, before starting to process the car.

----------------------------

"Are you absolutely sure?" Nick asked.

"Yes, Mr. Stokes." The man answered. "I showed that building to a man, a Mr. Prick if I remember correctly, about two months ago. He bought it, paid in cash."

"He paid in cash?" Nick asked disbelievingly. "And that didn't raise a red flag, Mr. Newsome?"

"This is Las Vegas, Mr. Stokes." The man answered in a tone that indicated that it was answer enough.

"And the address?" Nick asked. "Could you just write that down for me?"

"Absolutely." Paul wrote down the address.

"Thank you so much for your help." Nick was almost out of the door wanting to find Catherine as soon as possible.

"Mr. Stokes?" Nick turned back to the man. "Will you tell Catherine to give me a call sometime? I would love to see her again, if you know what I mean." Newsome smiled.

"I sure will." Nick smiled a fake smile. "When hell freezes over." He mumbled low enough that the other man didn't hear him, and left the room.

----------------------------

"This is for your own good, you know that." Dunne preached as he tied up a naked Veronica to the bed. "You will learn to obey me!" He finished tying the ropes and started removing his own clothes. "I will erase the memory of the devil from your mind."

Tears fell silently down her cheeks as he forced himself into her. She knew that the beating would soon start as well. She only prayed that her daughter would be safe.


	33. The Address

Thank you all for the reviews on chapter 32, an now here's chapter 33 for you all… I hope you'll like it and review on it as well… :-D

Lady J, thank you, thank you, thank you… You are the best!

**Chapter Thirty Three**

**The Address**

"Willows." Catherine answered her phone. She was about halfway done processing the car and having so far gotten nothing, was getting frustrated. Normal procedure was to have the car towed to the lab, but this case was too important to waste the time a tow would take.

"_Catherine, it's Nick."_

"Nick, can you hold on just a sec?" Catherine asked as she noticed Sofia approaching. "Did you get anything?" She asked the blonde detective.

"Yes." Sofia nodded. "The kid over there," she pointed at a boy outside the police tape, "collects license plate numbers. He noticed a van parked across the street and took the number."

"Does it belong to our guys?" Catherine asked.

"He saw two men getting into the van yesterday afternoon, so my guess would be yes, it is them." Sofia smiled.

"Have you tracked the number yet?" Sara asked, having heard the end of the conversation.

"They're doing it as we speak." Sofia told her.

"Great." Catherine picked up her phone again. "Great news, Nick , we have a license plate number."

"_I have even better news," Nick smiled, "I have an address for a building a Mr. Prick bought from Paul Newsome."_

"Please tell me that's an alias for Burns."

"_I showed him a picture and he made a positive I.D."_

"Nick, I could kiss you right now!" She exclaimed.

Sara looked up. If Nick had news that would lead to Veronica, Bridget and Julie she would be ok with Catherine kissing him, as long as it was a very short, very small peck on the cheek. Hell, she might even give him one as well. She waited impatiently for Catherine to finish the call.

"Let me have the address." Catherine gestured for a pen and paper and Sofia quickly gave it to her. Writing down the address, she continued talking to Nick. "Sofia is here with me, I'll let her know and we will meet you there." She nodded to Sofia and handed her the address, and the blonde hurried off to order the officers and the SWAT team to the location.

"_What about Sara?"_

"She is here with me as well, I'll give her the good news."

"_Ok, Catherine," Nick smiled. "I'll meet you at the address."_

"Yes." Catherine nodded. "And Nick?"

"_Yeah?"_

"Good work."

"_Thank you." He hung up with a smile._

"Do we have them?" Sara asked to make sure.

"We do." Catherine nodded, smiling widely.

The brunette stood still for a moment taking in the news - the fantastic news - and then picked up the blonde and swung her around once before setting her back down. Looking her deeply in the eyes, she whispered, "Thank you."

"Don't thank me, thank Nick, he got the address." Catherine smiled.

"I will." Sara smiled back. "Just not like this." And then she kissed the woman in front of her.

The kiss was short but sweet. If she hadn't been on a scene with reporters around her, Catherine would have thought that it ended all too quickly. She gave Sara a short hug to show that she was alright with the kiss.

"We need to get to that address." She told her.

"I know." Sara turned around to go to the car, but Catherine stopped her.

"Are you sure it's a good idea for you to go there?"

"I'm going Catherine." Sara started walking towards the car again.

The blonde sighed. "You stay outside with the rest of us, Sara." She called out after her. The brunette only held up a hand signalling that she had heard her.

----------------------------------------

Kimberly fumbled for her phone as it started ringing, she was still crying but she didn't care. She looked at the display showing Sofia Curtis as the caller. Looking at Ben, she answered it.

"Shaw."

"_Kim, we have an address." Sofia told her._

"Where?"

"_Kim…"_

"Where?" She cut her off, making it clear that not answering was not an option.

Sofia gave her the address and directions on how to get there.

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes." She said before hanging up. "I have to go." She told the others as she got up from the couch.

"Did they find them?" Matthew got up as well. "I'm coming with you."

"Me too." Anita got up as well.

"Me too." Benjamin said right after.

"No." Kim held up her hand. "I'll go alone. I'm a cop, they won't let any of you get near the place."

"But…" Benjamin wanted to convince her to let him come along.

"No, Benjamin." She left the room heading out for her car.

"Where's your car, Matt?" Ben asked.

"My keys are on the table by the door, the car in the driveway." Their mother answered before Matthew had a chance. "Go! I'll tell your father."

"Thanks, mom." Benjamin ran out of the room followed by his siblings.

"Please dear God, let them find them safe and unharmed." Helen Lavisham whispered the little prayer before going to her husband's office to tell him the news.

-------------------------------------

Dunne finished his business quickly and Veronica was very grateful for that.

"I will keep teaching you until you have learned your lesson, Veronica." He said as he put his pants on. "This _is_ for your own good."

He untied her and she got up trying to get to her clothes.

"I didn't tell you that you could get up!" He hit her across the face, making her fall back onto the bed.

"I will die before obeying you." She said forcefully between sobs. She had survived being attacked by this man once and she would be damned if she would let him break her this time.

"You will learn to obey." He said slowly with an evil glint in his eyes. "You will learn."

Veronica closed her eyes expecting the fist flying towards her face.

----------------------------------

Catherine, Sara and Greg were driving behind the flashing lights of the police cars. Once they reached the city limits they cut off the sirens so they wouldn't alert Dunne and Burns, and when they got closer to their destination they shut off the lights as well. They drove in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Sara was worried that they were too late, she had dealt with Dunne before and knew what he was capable of. She couldn't help but think that Dunne had already hurt one or more of his hostages, she just hoped that Julie wasn't one of them – no child should experience that kind of pain in their life. No one should.

Both Catherine and Greg were worried about Sara coming along with them, but neither of them expressed their doubts. They both knew that when Sara had decided on coming no one could keep her away. Catherine looked over at the brunette sitting in the passenger's seat. Sara was sitting there stoic as ever with the usual blank expression on her face. She was impossible to read. Catherine gave up trying and just reached out to hold her hand.

Sara felt Catherine look at her as she drove towards the warehouse, but did her best to keep her face neutral. She was worried sick about her friend and her family, but she couldn't show that to Catherine, not yet. She was sure about her feelings for the other woman, but she still had doubts about the blonde's feelings for her. How could she be sure if this was a relationship that was going to last? How could she be sure that she wasn't just this month's toy for Catherine? She was ashamed to have these thoughts, but maybe her father had been right when he had said that she wasn't worth loving and never would be. She was happy with the silence in the car, then she didn't have to waste her energy making mindless small talk. As she felt Catherine take her hand she couldn't stop the small smile from forming on her face. Maybe she had really finally found the person who she could fight all her demons with. Maybe she had finally found the one who thought that Sara would be worth it, even if Sara didn't think so herself.

As they approached the warehouse all cars turned their lights off so not to alert Dunne and Burns that they were coming. Parking half a mile away from the warehouse they got out of the car and saw Nick's car driving up behind them and Warrick and Nick got out and joined them. They all stood together in silence and Catherine was the only one to notice that Grissom was not among them. As they stood there side by side, Catherine still holding onto Sara's hand, watching the police officers and SWAT team preparing to go into the building, they saw a car driving up to the scene followed closely by another. Kimberly parked the car carelessly and got out of the car, so did Ben and his siblings who had been in the other car.

Catherine squeezed Sara's hand a little harder as she saw Kimberly drawing her gun and walking towards the warehouse.


	34. The Rescue

I hadn't really realized what a cliffie chapter 33 was when I posted it, I'm sorry about that. But now, fresh from the beta, I give you chapter 34… Which could possibly be described as a cliffie as well, but I just can't help myself. Thanks for the reviews on chapter 33, I hope you'll give me some feedback on this one as well.

Now, this story is nearly finished, only two more chapters to go after this one, and I was thinking about writing a sequel to it, but I only want to do that if people wants to read it, so what do you say? Do you want a sequel to Blast from the past?

Jess, thank you. I'm so lucky to have the best beta in the world! You have made this story so much better with your feedback, suggestions, decisions and of course making sense of my punctuation. Thank you.

**Chapter Thirty Four**

**The Rescue**

Sara let go of Catherine's hand and ran after Kimberly. Getting in her way she held up both hands trying to stop her.

"You can't go in there, Kimberly."

"Watch me!" The detective said through clenched teeth, trying to get past Sara.

"Kimberly, stop!" Sara grabbed her by the shoulders but Kim shrugged her off.

"Sara, get out of my way!" Kimberly stopped and looked her straight in the eyes and Sara recognized the anger and hate in them all too well.

"I can't." Sara tried to get through to her. "She would kill me if I let you in there without backup."

"Get your gun then." Kimberly tried to get past her once again and succeeded this time.

"He will kill them if he sees you coming." Sara said forcefully to get through to her.

Kimberly stopped dead in her tracks and looked back at Sara. "I have to do something, Sara. I couldn't protect my own family, the least I can do is get them back."

"Not like this." Sara walked up to her placing a hand on her shoulder. "You will go to jail if you kill him, and then what good will you be to her?"

Kimberly hung her head trying not to cry.

"Let the SWAT team do their job and wait for her here. That's when she'll need you the most. That's when Julie will need you the most." Sara had kept her hand on the detective's shoulder. "Come on, let's go back to the others and wait." She noticed the tears running down the other woman's cheeks and felt helpless. She wasn't used to comforting other people. She looked helplessly at Catherine as they almost reached the others. This was her field of expertise; she was the one who was good with people. Silently she pleaded for her to come help her to comfort the distraught woman.

Catherine saw and recognized the look in Sara's eyes immediately and rushed to the two women. She drew Kimberly into a strong hug as if trying to share some of her own strength with the woman. She held on for a while before guiding her back to the other CSIs who had gotten the radio out so they could listen to what was happening with the operation. "It's going to be alright, honey." Catherine tried to reassure the detective with words as she squeezed her shoulder in support as well. "These guys do this all the time, they will get them out."

Sara moved to stand beside Catherine again placing a tentative hand on her waist. Benjamin moved to Kimberly's other side to support her as well, but also needing support from her. Nick moved to stand next to Sara, making sure to not stand too close, but close enough to be there for her should she need it. They were all quiet, ready to listen to the sounds coming from the radio.

"_Alpha leader this is Red Raven, give me your positions, over."_

"_Red Raven this is Alpha leader, we are getting in position, over."_

"_Romeo leader this is Red Raven, what is your position?"_

"_Ready to rock and roll, Red Raven, over."_

"_Foxtrot leader this is Red Raven, give me your positions, over."_

"_Foxtrot is ready, over."_

Kimberly let go of Catherine and sought the arms of Benjamin who was the closest she could get to Veronica outside the warehouse. She had been to a lot of these SWAT actions, but the stakes had never been higher than right now.

As Kimberly let go of her, Catherine automatically turned towards Sara, holding on tighter to her. The brunette was holding on to her with one arm, but that was the only thing that indicated that she was worried. She was standing tall, her face masked with her usual stoic expression turned towards the darkened warehouse. The blonde pressed her body flush against her side in silent support and was happy when Sara tightened her grip around her waist.

"_Remember we have three civilians in this place, one child and two women. One is a cop's wife, so let's get them all out safe."_

There was a pause on the radio.

"_All teams wait for my command."_

----------------------------------------

Bridget was trying very hard not to get hysterical as time went by and her sister didn't come back to the room. She kept little Julie close to her all the time, and did her best to keep the little girl quiet. She didn't want them to come and get them as well. She was scared for her sister, it had been hours since their captors had taken her out of the room. What had happened to her? Why wasn't she back with them yet? Was she still alive?

She looked down at the little girl in her arms, Veronica would have to stay alive for the little girl. Julie looked up at her with tears in her eyes.

"Mommy?" She asked.

"She'll be back soon, honey." Bridget answered with a strained smile.

"Julie want mommy." The little girl started sobbing quietly.

"Shhh, honey. It's going to be alright. Mommy will be back real soon." Bridget shifted her slightly and started rocking her gently back and forth. "Everything will be just fine."

She wasn't sure whether she was trying to convince herself or the little girl.

----------------------------------

"_Team leaders, do you have a visual?"_

"_Alpha, negative."_

"_Romeo, negative."_

"_Foxtrot has a room with two bodies through night vision googles – both alive."_

Sara looked back and met Kimberly's eyes. They both knew that Veronica would not be one of the two people in the room, she would sacrifice herself before letting anything happen to her daughter or sister. Kimberly let go of Benjamin, she needed Veronica and even though he was her twin, he would never be her. Sara pulled Catherine closer, but didn't voice her concerns that Veronica was dead.

"_Snipers?"_

"_Nothing, boss."_

"_Nothing here."_

"_No one by the windows, boss."_

"_All teams await my orders."_

"Why don't they get in there already?" Matthew asked angrily.

"They have to make sure that they won't have enough time to kill Veronica, Bridget and Julie." Kim answered in a detached tone of voice looking towards the warehouse.

"But they know where they are, why can't they go in there?" Anita started as well.

"They don't have a fix on…" Kimberly turned and looked at the three siblings. "Veronica is not in that room with them."

"But…" Matthew started again, but didn't get further as Kimberly advanced on him pushing him roughly against the nearest car.

"Shut the fuck up!" She pushed him once more. "Let them do their fucking job and shut the fuck up!"

"Whoa!" Warrick and Greg pulled her away from him.

"Let go of me!" She shrugged them off and walked away from the group. "Just leave me alone right now!" She put her hands on her hips and leaned forward slightly hanging her head breathing in and out heavily. She needed for all of this to be over. She needed for both her girls to be safely home with her.

"_Shaw?"_

Sara took the radio to her.

"Yes."

"_Curtis here. Brass and I will go with the second wave. How are you holding up?"_

"Just get them out of there and soon. I'll worry about me later."

"_Will do. It won't be long now."_

"Thank you." Kimberly gave back the radio to Sara. The brunette squeezed her shoulder again before walking back to stand beside Catherine.

Catherine looked up at her. "Are you alright?"

"Not really." Sara shook her head. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"About them going in or about Veronica?" Catherine moved to stand in front of the other woman so she could look her in the eyes.

"I don't think she will be… unharmed." Sara whispered so low that Catherine barely heard her.

Catherine had nothing to say to reassure the brunette, so she did what she thought best; she pulled Sara close to her and hugged her comfortingly. Sara didn't relax in the embrace, but she didn't pull away either, so the blonde figured that she had made the right choice.

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Veronica had felt and heard her arm break when she had used it to stop him from kicking her in the head. She cradled it carefully against her torso, trying to prepare herself from his next attack. She felt her body wanting to give up and just drift away into nothingness, but she willed herself to stay awake, trying to keep her hopes of rescue up. She couldn't leave her daughter alone with these men, who knew what they would do to her if Veronica wasn't there to protect her. She instinctively knew that Bridget would do everything in her power to protect the little girl, but she was just a girl herself and she couldn't do much against two grown men. She had led a sheltered life not knowing of the darker sides of life, she wouldn't know how to protect herself, let alone a little girl.

"It is my destiny to teach you. It is your destiny to serve me. You will learn." Dunne chanted the words over and over while beating her as if they were a magical cure.

Veronica coughed, and felt more than saw the blood dripping from her mouth. She figured that he had broken one or more of her ribs and one of them had punctured a lung. She would need medical attention soon or she would die.

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"_Team leaders this is Red Raven, let's get them out of there. On my mark, over."_

"_10-4 Red Raven."_

"_Ready, Boss."_

"_Let's get in there."_

Kimberly moved closer to the rest of the group, her eyes shifting between the radio and the warehouse in the distance.

Sara held on tighter to Catherine, her eyes were fixed on the warehouse as if she could see what was going on over there. Catherine did what she could to support the brunette, so she held on to her just as tightly. She knew it wasn't much, but it was all she could do for now. Later she would do more, but for now she just held the other woman.

"_Go!"_

As the signal was given Kimberly started running towards the warehouse ignoring Warrick and Greg shouting for her to stop. Sara let go of Catherine and ran after the detective – not to stop her this time, but to join her. Catherine hesitated for a second looking back at her friends and colleagues.

"Make sure they stay here." She told them pointing at the Lavisham siblings, before running after the other two women.

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Bridget heard the sound of a door splintering and a few muffled shouts, before the silence suddenly returned. She held Julie closer keeping her eyes fixed on the door – what was happening? Then the door suddenly opened and strong flashlights shone on them. Screaming she turned and protected Julie with her own body. When she felt a hand placed on her shoulder she started kicking and screaming at whoever was touching her.

"Leave us alone! Give us back Veronica! What did you do to her, you sick bastards?"

"Bridget." A female voice yelled over her screaming. "Bridget, we're the police. We're here to get you out of here."

Bridget stopped suddenly and looked up at the woman speaking with tears running down her cheeks. "Police?" She asked though sobs.

"Yes." The woman nodded and held out a hand to her. "Come on, let's get you out of here."

"Where's Veronica?" Bridget asked as she got up, still holding Julie closely to her. "Where's my sister?"

The woman put an arm around her, but didn't look at her. "Come on, let's get you out of here." She said as she led the crying woman through the door.

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As the three women got closer to the warehouse they saw black dressed officers leading a cuffed Burns out through the doors, placing him facedown on the ground. Kimberly changed her direction and barged directly towards him. She had just reached him and was about to attack him when she heard a voice calling out for her.

"Mama!"

She looked around and saw a young woman carrying her daughter coming out the door escorted by other black dressed police officers.

"Julie!" She ran towards them with her arms stretched out to the little girl. As she reached them she took the little girl from the other woman's arms and hugged her tightly. She held her out, checking her over for any injuries. "Are you ok, sweetie? Did anyone hurt you?"

"Where's mommy?" The little girl cried. "I want my mommy."

Kimberly locked eyes with Bridget who shook her head slowly; she didn't know where Veronica was.

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Veronica lifted her head up slightly when she heard it, was it for real or was she dreaming? She had heard a faint noise of something moving outside the room. She put her head down again as Dunne kicked her in the stomach. He moved away from her and for a second she thought her time was over, that he had heard the noise as well. But he didn't go to the door. Instead he went to an old dresser, pulling something out from a drawer. Turning slowly towards her, he revealed the new object in his hands – a large shining knife. He caressed it reverently and walked slowly towards her.

"Do you recognize this, my sweet?" He asked, his eyes fixed on the knife. "I tried before, but this time I will succeed in cutting the devil out of you."

Veronica started trembling. If he started cutting her she was dead for sure. Silently she started praying to every God she had ever heard of.

He kneeled down beside her letting the knife caress her cheek, but not cutting her yet. He looked up startled when the door flew open and black dressed people came running in. He raised the knife and Veronica clearly saw the madness shining in his eyes. If he couldn't have her, no one could.

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As they heard the shot being fired they stood frozen in place, looking at each other for what seemed like hours but was merely seconds. Kimberly woke first from the shock and quickly handed Julie over to Catherine. She got out her gun and ran inside the warehouse. She heard the SWAT team members shouting after her, but ignored them – she needed to get to Veronica right away.

Sara followed right behind Kimberly, praying that Veronica was still alive. She pulled out her gun as they reached a door that had clearly been ripped off its hinges. Breathing in deeply she raised her gun and followed the detective through the door.

"We need paramedics in here!" A man shouted out from inside the room.

_Please dear God, don't let it be Veronica! Please don't let it be her! Please let her be alive!_


	35. Aftermath

Here is a new chapter for y'all, it's a long one and I hope you will like it. It was my plan to make this the last chapter, but it just didn't seem to finish the story, so there will be one more just to give it a finishing touch. Or at least that is my excuse to write a little bit of smut in the last chapter. (and now I'm hoping that smut means what I think it means, suddenly I'm not sure…). And I hope you want a sequel because it is my plan to write one.

Thank you all for the feedback/reviews on chapter 34, I am totally a feedback/review junkie, so please let me know what you think of this chapter as well.

Jess, thank you so much for all your work on this story, you have made it so much better. Thank you, I've said it before, but I'll say it again: You're the best!

**Chapter Thirty Five**

**Aftermath**

Sara moved carefully into the room, afraid of what she would see in there. She saw Kimberly being held back by police officers as she was trying to get to somebody lying on the floor. She felt as if time was moving in slow motion and hardly recognized her own voice when she started speaking.

"It's ok, guys. She's a LVPD detective. It's her wife." She showed her CSI badge to the nearest of them and he signalled to the others to let Kimberly go.

"Veronica!" Kimberly threw herself down beside the beaten woman. "V can you hear me?" She touched the petite woman's face softly, careful not to cause her any more pain. "We need paramedics in here now!" She shouted out, before turning back to the bleeding woman. "V, hon, please stay with me. It's all over now, he's dead. He can't hurt you anymore."

Sara moved slowly to the other side of Veronica. This was all too familiar, yet unbelievable. The last time Veronica had been lying on the bed, this time she was lying next to it. The last time Sara had been alone when finding her and Dunne was long gone, this time a force of police officers and CSIs had found her and Dunne was dead on the floor. She knelt down next to her friend, careful not to touch or move her in any way and looked over her injuries. She was bleeding from the mouth, which could indicate the she had either bitten her tongue quite badly or she had internal bleeding, most likely from a punctured lung. Her left arm was angled in a wrong way, but as far as Sara could judge it was a clean fracture. Other than that she had been beaten very badly and, judging by the lack of clothes, she had been sexually molested as well.

Sara grabbed a blanket from the bed next to her, even though she knew it would be destroying evidence, and gently covered up Veronica's body with it. Locking eyes with Kimberly she got back up. "I'll go see what's keeping the paramedics." She told her, before leaving the room in a hurry.

Kimberly nodded absentmindedly and kept caressing the cheek of the injured woman gently while speaking softly to her.

"God V, I love you so much. I can't live without you. Please make it through this. I need you. We need you. Julie and I need you and love you so much. Please don't give up, hon. Please don't give up!"

After a minute or two Sara came rushing back in, bringing the paramedics who roughly pushed Kimberly aside and started working on Veronica. Kimberly stumbled to her feet and clung to Sara for support.

"God Sara, she looks so…" She whispered.

"She's been through this before, Kim. She's strong, she'll make it this time as well." Sara held on to the other woman, trying to keep her hopes up as well as her own. "She has so much more to live for this time."

"Out of the way, please." One of the paramedics yelled.

They realized that they were standing between the gurney and the door and quickly moved to the side so they could rush Veronica past them. They followed them outside and up to the ambulance. Sara looked around and found Catherine standing off to the side comforting Julie and hiding the sight of her mother on the gurney from her.

"Go!" She told Kimberly who was already halfway inside the ambulance. "I'll get Julie and meet you at the hospital." She closed the doors once Kimberly had nodded and hit it twice signalling for the driver to get going.

She stood for a minute, watching the ambulance disappearing down the road before turning towards Catherine. She walked up to her and the little girl and embraced both of them.

"How is she?" Catherine asked.

"She'll pull through." Sara said, determinedly. "I should go inform their brothers and sister."

"Are you sure you're up for that?" The blonde asked worriedly, placing her free hand on Sara's shoulder.

"No," Sara said with a small smile, "but I have to do it."

"I could…" Catherine started.

"It's ok." The brunette started walking towards the Lavisham siblings. "Please just keep Julie here while I talk to them."

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Everything after that happened in a blur. The Lavishams had been both happy that Bridget was safe and unharmed, but distraught that Veronica was badly injured. They had rushed to the hospital bringing both Sara and Julie and were now sat in the waiting room, waiting for news on Veronica.

Sara looked around at the others. Bridget was sat between Matthew and Anita looking lost. They were trying to comfort her to the best of their abilities, but nothing seemed to be working. Sara felt sorry for the girl, she had been through a nightmare and would probably need therapy for years to come.

Her eyes moved to Benjamin. He was sitting on his own, his body slumped over and hiding his head in his hands. He seemed lost in space and he looked like hell to be honest. But nothing else could be expected when his twin sister and probably best friend was in surgery fighting for her life.

Finally her gaze fell on Kimberly. She was cuddling Julie close to her, whispering words to her, trying to get her to fall asleep. All the while Sara could tell that she was trying to hold back her own tears and the brunette's heart was breaking for the both of them. She hoped and prayed that they would have their wife and mother safely home with them again soon.

Sara was sitting by her self as well. Catherine had wanted to come with her, but she had to stay on the scene and have it processed. They needed to clear the shooter, a young member of the SWAT team that Sara didn't know, but would be eternally indebted to. On top of that they had to get all the evidence from the warehouse so they could build a solid case against Burns so that a thing like this wouldn't happen to these people again. Deep down she was very sorry that Burns hadn't been shot as well, but at least the worst of them was gone.

Governor Lavisham and his wife arrived a little later, taking over caring for Bridget. They both looked older and more tired than they had just a couple of days before. They had both tried to support Kimberly but neither of them knew how to, so they settled on staying close to Bridget.

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They had been sitting and waiting for hours when Catherine and another blonde joined them. Catherine stopped and crouched next to Kimberly checking on her before heading straight for Sara. She sat down next to her and pulled her into an embrace.

"Are you ok?" She whispered.

"I'm tired of waiting, what is taking them so long?" She whispered back.

"I don't know, sweetie." The blonde hugged her a little tighter before easing out of the embrace. Sara leaned in against her shoulder and she held one of the brunette's hands in her own.

"Who's the blonde?" Sara asked, nodding towards the blonde who had entered with Catherine earlier. She was sitting next to Benjamin, trying to comfort him a little.

"That's my sister Nancy." Catherine informed her with a smile.

"Oh." Sara sat up straight and let go of the blonde's hand.

"Sara." Catherine took her hand again. "I have told Nancy about you."

"Oh." Sara relaxed a little but still kept her distance.

"And although she's a bit apprehensive about us because of our earlier relationship, she's supportive."

"Oh." Sara allowed herself to relax against Catherine again, but shot straight back up as the doctor entered the room.

They all looked up at him expectantly.

"Kimberly Shaw?" He asked looking at them.

"That's me." Kimberly gently handed the now sleeping Julie to Catherine. Sara and Benjamin had both gotten up and now stood on either side of Kimberly. "How is Veronica?" The detective asked.

"I'm Doctor Follows and I operated on Dr Christiansen. She had severe internal injuries – a punctured lung along with a ruptured spleen." The doctor started. "It was touch and go for a long while, but as we all know Veronica is a fighter and she will fight her way through this as well. She's in recovery right now and will have to spend some time in ICU, but she should make a full recovery." He finished with a smile.

"Thank you!" Kimberly burst into tears. "Thank you so much!" She shook the doctor's hand. "When can I see her?"

"You can come in and see her now, but only for a short time and only two of you at a time."

"You two go." Sara told Benjamin and Kimberly. "We'll look after Julie while you're gone."

"No." Benjamin looked over at his youngest sister. "Bridget you go with Kimberly and I'll wait here and go in with Sara when you get back."

"Ok, right this way." The doctor showed them out the door.

They returned ten minutes later, telling Benjamin and Sara that they could go visit her.

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As they entered the hospital room Benjamin started crying silently. "God, she looks so fragile lying there." He whispered. "I never realized how tiny she really is. She's always been larger than life to me." He kissed her softly on the forehead and held her hand gently.

"I know." Sara was whispering as well. "She's probably fighting hard at waking up just so she can yell at you for calling her fragile." She smiled to Benjamin as she held Veronica's other hand.

"We love you, big sis. We all want you to wake up soon."

"Yeah, we do." Sara agreed. "Besides, I need some advise on the whole Catherine situation. You know how much I don't want to mess this up, and you also know that I probably will without a little help from my Foxy." For a moment she didn't care that Benjamin was listening to what she was saying, she just wanted to tell her friend that she loved her in her own way.

The nurse came in to tell them that they had to leave and they both placed a kiss on her forehead.

"I love you." Sara whispered before she left her side.

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Outside the room, Catherine and Nancy were waiting for them.

"You ok?" Catherine asked as she took Sara's hand.

"She looks like shit." Sara told them. "All the bruising and cuts and…" She stopped talking so she could keep herself from crying.

"But she's alive." Benjamin took over and put his arm around Nancy's shoulder.

"Yeah, she's alive," Sara smiled sadly, "but she looks…" She stopped herself before saying that Veronica looked worse than the first time Dunne had gotten to her, that was not something her family needed to know.

"I made Kimberly get Julie home to her parents," Catherine changed the subject, "and we're here to get you two home to get some sleep." She smiled. "Oh and Sara, this is my sister Nancy, Nancy this is Sara."

"Hi." Nancy held out her hand. "It's nice to finally meet you, I just wish it was under better circumstances." She smiled, and Sara noticed how much she looked like Catherine.

"Nice to meet you too." Sara smiled a little and shook her hand before turning her attention back to Catherine. "But I should really stay here and…"

"The doctor told us that it would take a few hours before she wakes up and even longer before she will know what's happening around her." Catherine countered. "You have time to get home to get a couple of hours of sleep and then you can come back."

"But…" Sara started again.

"Get your butt home in bed, Sidle, that's an order."

"Is she always this bossy?" Sara asked Nancy, who just chuckled.

"You don't know that by now?" She asked the brunette.

"Oh, she knows it and she's loving every minute of it." Catherine told them. before ushering Sara towards the elevators. "We'll talk to you guys later."

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In the elevator Catherine pushed the button for the lobby.

"You do know that I'm not actually enjoying it, right?" Sara asked her, as the elevator started moving.

"Right…" Catherine drew out the word.

"Ok, maybe I'm enjoying it a little bit once in a while, but not all the time."

"Sure." Catherine smiled smugly.

They stepped out of the elevator as they reached the lobby and walked towards the parking lot. Sara suddenly stopped abruptly and Catherine looked back at her questioningly.

"I don't have my car here."

"I know, I'm driving you home."

"But how am I going to get to the lab tomorrow?" Sara had tears in her eyes.

Catherine stepped closer, knowing that it was a late reaction to the night's events.

"It's ok, sweetie. I'll come by and pick you up tomorrow night." She said soothingly. "Come on, let's get you home in bed."

"Ok." Sara willed herself once again to not let the tears fall. She just really wanted to get to work on time tomorrow night.

The ride was quiet because both women were tired from the long shifts they had had in the last days, and finally Catherine parked in front of Sara's building. She turned the key in the ignition and got out of the car. Sara looked at her confused, as she went around the car and opened her door for her.

"Let's go." She took the brunette's hand and guided her out of the car.

"What are you doing, Catherine?" Sara asked.

"I'm making sure that you get into bed." Catherine said matter-of-factly.

"You don't have to do that."

"I know, but I want to." Catherine let her up the stairs. "Where are you keys?" She asked as they reached Sara's door.

"Here." Sara fished the keys out of her pocket and handed them over.

"Now where's your bedroom?" Catherine asked as they got inside. Sara pointed towards the bedroom door, but stayed where she was when Catherine walked towards the room.

"Sara, you need to sleep." Catherine turned towards her and held out her hand.

"I don't think I can." Sara admitted.

"Why?"

Sara was silent a moment, considering if she should tell Catherine the real reason or make up a believable excuse. "Because…" She hesitated looking over at the blonde. "Because I get nightmares when I'm as upset as I am right now." She finally admitted, looking down, ashamed of herself.

"Oh." Catherine stepped closer to her. "I'm sorry, sweetie." She paused, thinking. "Do you…"

"Could you stay?" Sara spoke quickly interrupting her. "I won't… It's just… Could you just stay with me for a while, please?"

Catherine smiled. "Of course." She held out her hand once more. "Come on."

Sara took her hand and they walked to the bedroom. She found something for Catherine to wear to bed, before going to the bathroom to change and brush her teeth. She found a fresh toothbrush for Catherine to use and sat down on the bed waiting for the blonde to change.

When Catherine returned from the bathroom, she gently tucked Sara in and kissed her chastely on the lips before lying down next to her. She felt Sara shifting and placing an arm around her and she shifted into a more comfortable position where she had her head placed on the brunette's shoulder and an arm thrown possessively and protectively around her stomach.

"Goodnight." Sara said out in the darkened room.

"Goodnight." Catherine couldn't help but chuckle.

"What?" Sara asked looking down at her.

"Well," Catherine turned her head and smiled into her neck. "It's just that this wasn't how I imagined us in bed together for the first time."

"Oh." Sara shifted a little, but stopped as Catherine tightened her grip on her torso and threw a leg over her for good measure.

"It's ok." She told her. "It's more than ok actually. It's a nice change. I've never just slept with someone I'm involved with the first time I was in bed with them. I kinda like it."

"Me too." Sara smiled. The silence stretched between them, and just as Catherine thought Sara had fallen asleep, she started speaking again. "So, you've imagined us in bed together, huh?"

"Smartass." Catherine laughed, snuggling closer to her.

"You know you love it." Sara laughed as well.

They both chuckled and silence fell over them again.

"Thank you, Catherine." Sara whispered, just before she fell asleep.

Catherine's only reaction was to hold on tighter to the brunette, before snuggling closer to her and falling asleep as well.


	36. The Date

Well, this is the end of Blast from the past, I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have. I have started writing the sequel, but I'm not quite happy with it, so it could take a little while for it to be up. It will be posted sometime soon though – hopefully. And I hope the little bit of smut in this is ok, I'm not that good at writing smut.

Thanks for the feedback on chapter 35, I hope you'll let me know what you think of the end as well.

Jess, thank you so, so much for being my beta. This story wouldn't be nearly as good if you hadn't been a part of it. The best thing about writing this story has definitely been me getting a new friend. You're the best!

**Chapter Thirty Six**

**The Date**

Sara woke up with a start, the turmoil of feelings about almost loosing Veronica had finally caught up with her. She had been dreaming, but it hadn't been one of her usual nightmares.

_She spotted Veronica and ran after her to stop her from being hurt, but the faster she ran towards her, the further Veronica was from her. From somewhere above her she heard Catherine's voice booming:_

"_You'll never get to her! You are weak and pathetic, what makes you think you can reach her? What makes you think I would ever consider being with you?"_

_And it kept shouting louder and louder as Veronica moved further and further away from her. She kept running through it all and passed by people from her past who were all pointing at her laughing. The last person she ran past was her father standing tall over her, blood oozing from the stab wounds in his chest. He joined in Catherine's mocking words._

"_You still think you're special, Sara? Give up and face the truth; you're a worthless piece of shit, who should have never been brought into this world! You think you have friends? People who care? You don't! You never will!"_

_He started laughing loudly and it just kept getting louder and louder until it finally drowned out everything else, including the beating of her own heart._

That was when she had woken up. She felt the tears pressing and quietly slid out from Catherine's protective embrace. She cared deeply for the blonde, but she couldn't wake her up for this. Right now she needed her privacy. Catherine had already seen her crying once, if it happened again maybe she would give up on her, maybe she would decide that Sara wasn't worth the happily ever after ending she so desperately wanted.

She slipped quietly into the bathroom and locked the door behind her. At least, she thought, she had gotten three or four hours of sleep before the nightmare had woken her up. At the memory of the nightmare, the tears started falling and she was unable to stop them. She had almost lost her best friend; the one person who had almost made her believe that she wasn't bad, who had made her believe for a while that she was worth loving. Sitting down on the cold, hard tiles and leaning against the wall, she started sobbing quietly. She reached for a towel and buried her head in it, stifling the sounds so she wouldn't wake up Catherine in the other room. Maybe the dream had had a good point; what was she thinking? Why would Catherine be with someone like her? Why was she even considering involving Catherine in her crazy messed-up life? If she loved her, why would she put her through that?

She didn't know how long she had been crying before a knock on the door startled her.

"Sara? You in there?" Catherine asked through the door.

"Yeah." Sara cleared her voice, hoping Catherine couldn't hear that she had been crying.

"Are you ok?" Catherine sounded worried.

"Yeah." She took a deep breath willing herself to get her voice under control. "I was just going to take a shower." She told the blonde.

"Ok, I'll make some coffee and wait for you."

"Sure." Sara turned on the shower and shed her clothes.

Stepping under the warm spray she let the tears fall until there were no more left. She knew she needed to stop crying before facing Catherine again or she would start all over again. Finally, after a good fifteen minutes, she turned the water into cold hoping it would wash away the traces of her tears.

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Catherine was reading the paper and drinking a cup of coffee, still wearing the clothes she had slept in, when Sara made it to the kitchen. She stood still in the doorway for a minute, taking in the vision that was Catherine Willows.

"Morning." She said, stepping into the room when she had the image etched in her mind.

"Good morning." Catherine looked over at her with a smile. "Hope you don't mind." She gestured to the newspaper. "It was outside the door and I figured…"

"No, it's fine." Sara smiled as she made her way to the kitchen, getting a cup of coffee for herself.

"I need my glasses though." Catherine smiled. "I'm getting too old to read properly without them."

Sara returned to the living room and sat down opposite her. "I love those glasses." She murmured, looking into her mug.

"Yeah?" Catherine couldn't help the smug grin forming on her lips.

"Oh yeah." Sara finally looked up at her. "I really do."

"That would make me feel less old." She said whilst making a mental note to wear those glasses more often. "I should probably go take a shower too." She added, getting up and walking in the direction of the bathroom.

"Hey Catherine?"

Sara's voice stopped her and she turned with a questioningly look. "Yes?"

"You're not old." She said honestly.

Catherine walked back to her and kissed her shortly in the lips. "You are very good at making a woman feel good." She whispered into her lips, before kissing her again, this time deepening it. She licked the brunette's lower lip seeking entrance and would, had she not been occupied, have jumped up and down in victory, when it was granted. As they parted she couldn't help but smile. "Morning." She whispered.

"Morning." Sara smiled too. "Did you sleep ok?"

"I had a very nice pillow." Catherine nodded. "How did you sleep?"

"Better than I have in a long time." Sara admitted shyly.

"I'm glad." Catherine straightened. "I better go take that shower now. I need to pick Lindsay up from my mom's soon."

"I put clean towels on the sink for you."

"Thanks." Catherine went to the bathroom, throwing one last smile Sara's way.

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Driving towards the hospital, Catherine looked over at Sara apologetically.

"I'm sorry, I would really want to be there for you, but…"

"You have to see Lindsay." Sara stated clearly. "I understand that, Catherine, you don't ever have to feel sorry for having to be with your daughter."

"I know, I'm just…"

"I'll be ok, Catherine." Sara stopped her from saying sorry again. "And Lindsay probably needs to see you just as much as you need to see her."

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Catherine asked just as they were pulling up in to the hospital.

"I'm sure." Sara looked over at her. "But thanks… for everything." She put her hand over Catherine's and squeezed lightly.

"Anytime." Catherine's smile turned into a frown when Sara proceeded to get out of the car. "Sara?" She stopped her.

"Yeah?" Sara looked back.

"I know we haven't been on a date yet, but…" She paused.

Sara looked at her not getting what she was trying to say.

"Yes?"

"But don't I even get a kiss goodbye or something?" Catherine pretended to pout.

"Oh." Sara smiled widely and jumped back into the car. "Right." She kissed her and added a short hug. "Thanks for the ride."

"You're welcome." Catherine started up the engine again. "I'll be back to pick you up in an hour or two depending on traffic."

"Catherine, you need to spend time with Lindsay." Sara said again.

"Lindsay has school today, Sara." Catherine informed her with a smile.

"Oh." Sara got out of the car again. "Ok then, I'll see you later." She closed the door.

Catherine nodded and waved at her as she drove off to pick up Lindsay.

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"Hey you." Veronica whispered as Sara walked in the door. She made a shush noise and pointed to Kimberly sleeping in a chair next to the bed.

Sara moved closer and kissed her lightly on the forehead. "How are you feeling?" She whispered, sitting down on another chair and holding Veronica's hand.

"Like I've been hit by a train." Veronica whispered.

"Did he…?" Sara didn't finish the question before Veronica just nodded. "Are you…?"

"I'll live." Veronica looked over at the sleeping Kimberly. "I'm more worried about her." She looked back over at Sara. "Is he… Did they…?"

"He's dead, Veronica." Sara blinked away tears. "He'll never be able to hurt you again."

"Did… She didn't… It wasn't her, was it?" Her eyes moved back to Kimberly.

"No," Sara shook her head. "It was a guy from the SWAT team."

"Good." Veronica relaxed against her pillows and closed her eyes and they fell into silence.

Sara looked her friend over once more, she really did look bad. Every patch of skin visible was bruised, her arm was in a cast and Sara knew that there were new scars under her pyjamas. Her eyes were glazed over from the pain meds, but somewhere behind it all Sara had seen the glimpse of the old Veronica, and that made her feel more at ease than she had in a long time. Veronica would beat this, she would make it through and she would be stronger than ever – more importantly she would be safe from Oscar Charles Dunne.

"Tell me about you and Catherine." Veronica whispered.

Sara looked up at her. Her eyes were still closed and she had thought that she had fallen asleep.

"You should rest." Sara whispered.

"I'd like to hear about you and Catherine." Veronica smiled a little. "Come on Sass, I want all the dirty little details."

"What makes you think there are any dirty details?"

"Just hoping, plus I've seen you two fight." Veronica whispered. "Come on, Sass. Cheer me up a little."

"Ok, ok. Well…" Sara leaned back and told Foxy what had happened so far with Catherine in hushed tones. When she had finished Veronica stayed quiet and Sara thought that she had fallen asleep. After sitting in silence for ten minutes or so, Veronica broke the silence.

"I'm happy for you, Sara. You deserve someone good in your life and Catherine sounds like she fits that mould. And I'm sorry."

"Sorry?"

"Sorry for not being more careful." The tears started running down her cheeks. "Sorry for having you go through this again. Sorry for not being able to stop him. Just sorry all round really."

"Foxy." Sara leaned in, using her fingers to wipe away the tears running down her cheeks. "None of this is your fault." She whispered softly. "It was never your fault."

Sara got up from her chair and placed their foreheads against each other, which was the only way she could get close to hugging the other woman without hurting her. She caressed her cheek gently while just letting her cry. As she felt the tears dry on the doctor's cheek she leaned back up looking her in the eyes. "We all love you, honey." She whispered softly.

"Thanks." Veronica looked up at her, smiling just a little to comfort the brunette.

"You should get some rest." Sara sat back down. "I'll stay for a little while longer."

"Yeah, until Catherine picks you up. Don't think I don't know you, Sass." Veronica closed her eyes again.

"Well, I do need the ride, my car is at the lab." Sara smiled. "The fact that Catherine is the one picking me up is just an added bonus."

"Night, Sass."

"Night, Foxy." Sara leaned back in her chair keeping a silent watch over the two sleeping forms, hoping that they would make it through this phase together.

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"How was she?" Catherine asked as Sara got in the car.

"She was surprisingly talkative." Sara said.

"Ok." Catherine waited for her to elaborate as she pulled out into the street.

"She was beaten up and bruised pretty badly, but I think she'll make it through everything. Maybe not alright, but she won't let him have control of her anymore."

"That's good." Catherine looked over at her shortly before turning her eyes back to the road.

"I know it's going to take time." Sara sighed. "But we'll all be there to help her. She has so much to live for."

"Yeah." They sat in silence for a while. "I thought I'd drive you to the lab now, that way you can go in early tonight like I know you want to." Catherine broke the silence.

"Thanks." Sara smiled. "You're right on that one."

"Could you just promise me to get something to eat and maybe sleep a little before going in?" She asked pleadingly.

"I'll promise to try." Sara answered.

"Is that the best answer I'm going to get from you?" Catherine asked.

"Yes." Sara nodded.

"You know that's not going to work in the long run, right?"

"Yes." Sara nodded again.

"So about that date…" Catherine changed the subject.

"Are you sure you want to venture into all…" She gestured to herself, back towards the general direction of the hospital and everything else, "…this?"

"Are you saying you don't want this?" Catherine countered.

"No, I do. I'm saying I'm messed up."

"We all are, honey. I say it's about finding the right person to be messed up with." Catherine smiled over to her. "But about that date…"

They planned the date and got to the lab where they went their separate ways, Sara remembering this time to kiss Catherine goodbye.

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For some mysterious reason Sara was feeling nervous ringing Catherine's doorbell. This was just a simple date and with someone she knew even, plus there was going to be other people around as well, so there was no pressure at all. She rang the doorbell, taking a deep breath to prepare herself. She looked down and hoped that her somewhat casual attire was good enough and that the present she had brought wouldn't make her seem too geeky. Catherine opened the door looking stunning in a pair of tight dark pants and a low cut black top.

"Hi."

"Hi yourself." Catherine smiled at her looking her over. "Lindsay! Sara's here!" She yelled over her shoulder. "Come on in." She ushered her inside.

"Sara, hi." Lindsay appeared behind her mother.

"Hi Lindsay." Sara smiled at her holding out the present. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks!" Lindsay took the present looking it over and shaking it. "Come on into the living room, everyone else is in there." She walked away from them.

"We'll be right there, Linds." Catherine took Sara's jacket from her and hung it up.

"You look great." Sara said, feeling her nervousness returning.

"So do you." Catherine looked her over again before moving into her personal space. "Nervous?" She asked, putting her arms around Sara's neck.

"Yeah." Sara nodded, holding onto Catherin's hips.

"No need. It's just dinner, no pressure." She looked her in the eyes.

Sara smiled at Catherine wording her earlier thoughts.

"No pressure, just your entire family."

"That's right." Catherine laughed a little before kissing the lips in front of her shortly. "They'll love you, come on." She took one of Sara's hands and led her into the living room, where she introduced her to everyone.

"Oh my God, you're so lucky!" The girl Catherine had told her was Claire exclaimed as Lindsay unwrapped Sara's present. "I've been begging my mom for those for like forever!"

"And you got the DVD too!" Beth screamed.

"Wow!" Lindsay looked up at the brunette. "Thank you, Sara. This is so cool!" She got up and hugged her shortly before looking at the present again.

"You're welcome." Sara smiled, slightly uncertain about what to do when the girl hugged her.

"What did you get, Linds?" Catherine asked, smiling.

"The Narnia books _and _the DVD." Lindsay smiled too. "Can we watch it?" She asked hopefully.

"After dinner, honey." Catherine promised. She squeezed Sara's hand before heading to the kitchen to check on the food.

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Sara had stayed back as all the guests started breaking up for the night. Greg, Nick, Grissom and Warrick had left first to go to work and the rest of the guests had left not soon after that. So now she was sitting in the living room sipping a glass of wine waiting for Catherine, who was tucking in Lindsay, to come back down.

"Well, according to Lindsay this was the best birthday ever." Catherine let her presence be known as she walked down the last stairs.

Sara turned on the couch and watched her with a smile. "That's good."

"She _loved_ the present you got her." Catherine sat down next to her still smiling and reaching for her glass of wine. "When did you get time to buy it?"

"After you dropped me off at the lab yesterday. I'm glad she liked it."

"We're taking the weird road with this aren't we?" Catherine asked, shifting closer to Sara.

"What do you mean?" Sara asked, absentmindedly holding the hand closest to her.

"Well, we have our first kiss before the first date and it happened in a prison of all places. Then we end up in bed together before the first date. Ok, so we didn't do anything except sleep and cuddle, but still we were in bed together." She smiled.

"Yeah." Sara laughed a little.

"And now we finally have our first date, and it's on my daughter's birthday." Catherine laughed along with Sara.

"I guess you could categorise it as weird." Sara laughed. "But I kinda like weird, though."

"Yeah, me too." Catherine placed her head on Sara's shoulder and shifted into a more comfortable position. "Me too." She repeated with a contented sigh.

They fell silent, enjoying each others presence and time went by much too quickly for both of them.

"I better get going." Sara said regretfully. "It's getting late and I have to get to work."

"What?" Catherine got up from her comfortable place curled up against Sara, so that she could look at her properly. "I thought you had the night off?"

"Actually I just took a couple of hours off so I didn't have to eat and run." Sara said with a slight blush.

"Oh." Catherine smiled again. "That's…" She stopped and moved to straddle the brunette's legs. "That was a very nice thing to do, Sara." She said hugging her.

"It was nothing really." Sara dismissed it, enjoying the hug. Especially the fact that in their position she couldn't help that one of her hands we're placed extremely close to Catherine's perfect butt.

"It was." Catherine leaned back from the hug and looked her in the eyes. "Lindsay would have been so disappointed if you had to leave early." She kissed her lightly on the lips. "And when Lindsay is happy, Lindsay's mother is happy."

"Yeah?" Sara was afraid that her smile would be permanently glued to her face.

"Mmhmm." Catherine nodded looking down at Sara's lips.

"How happy?" Sara asked caressing the blonde's cheek with her hand. "Happy enough for a second date?"

"Happier than that, hon." Catherine shifted her body slightly so they were pressed more closely together.

"Oh." Sara felt the heat rush to her stomach and further south. The feeling of Catherine's body pressed against her own was better than any dream she had ever had about the blonde. She rested her hands lightly on her hips vaguely remembering that she had to get to work.

"It's ok to touch me, you know." Catherine purred into her ear before kissing her way along her jawbone towards her mouth. "I won't break."

Sara tightened her grip a little, concentrating on breathing. Catherine reached down, covering Sara's hand with her own and moving them backwards until they were resting on her ass.

"Oh God." Sara whispered, drawing Catherine impossibly closer to her.

"I thought you should have a treat to go to work on." Catherine smiled into her neck, before placing small butterfly kisses there. "Don't tell me you haven't wanted to do that for a while now."

"Mmmm." Sara, feeling very well spoken, rolled her head to the side to give Catherine better access.

Catherine seemingly had had enough of the teasing and took Sara's face in her hands moving in for the kill. She kissed her, lips slightly open mouthed, wanting to taste her, feel her, claim a part of her. She snuck her tongue out licking the other woman's lips trying to get access. Sara seemingly having woken up from her stupor kept one hand on the delicious butt and moved the other to the back of Catherine's head pressing them closer together, while opening up her mouth welcoming the blonde's tongue with her own. The kiss was heated and extremely emotional and something both women seemed to need more than anything. Slightly panting they parted keeping their foreheads together.

"God, I…" Sara stopped herself. "That was amazing." She smiled.

"Yeah it was." Catherine leaned in for another kiss, but Sara stopped her reluctantly.

"I'll never get any work done if we continue this." She said regretfully.

"I don't think Gil actually expects you to do much work after everything you've been through lately." Catherine smiled, slipping her hands down the brunette's torso and under her shirt.

"Catherine." Sara grabbed hold of her wrists stopping them from moving further up. "Please, at least right now I can pretend to be working."

"Ok." Catherine straightened up. "Sure I can't tempt you?" She smiled seductively.

"God, Catherine." Sara's hands had somehow gotten a life of their own and had found their way onto Catherine's thighs moving back and forth in a not so gentle caress. "I would really, _really_ love to stay right now, but I think I should get to work, before Grissom calls wanting to know what's holding me up."

"Ok, I'll let you go." Catherine got up and held out a hand for Sara to take and led her to the front door. "But I'm expecting that second date as soon as possible."

"You and me both, believe me." Sara said, putting on her jacket.

"Good." Catherine moved in and kissed her again as soon as the jacket was on. "Have fun at work." She smiled when they parted.

"Thanks." Sara said with sarcasm evident in her voice.

"What?" Catherine feigned innocence. "You love work."

"Yeah, but I have never been sent off to work like this before." She moved in and kissed Catherine again, pushing her against the wall. The kiss was insistent and heated and left Catherine panting. "Sleep well." Sara opened the door hating to leave.

"I will." Catherine purred. "I have stuff for great dreams now."

"Ok, I guess I won't even be able to pretend to be working now." Sara groaned looking back at the blonde. "I really need to get going."

"I know." Catherine got a little more serious. "Drive safely." She walked to the door to watch Sara walk to her car.

"I'll call you tomorrow." Sara said before getting into the car.

"Can't wait." Catherine smiled and waved as Sara back out of the driveway and drove down the street. She closed the door behind her with a smile.

Life was finally getting good again.

- The End For Now -


End file.
